"Tyranny of the Majority" was written by Alexis de Tocqueville from 1832 to 1840 in France. Democracy in America is the title of the book he wrote and "Tyranny of the Majority" is part of Chapter 15 in that book which is entitled: "Unlimited Power Of Majority, And Its Consequences". The book is a study on Democracy in the sixty years of the new country of the United States of America compared with the aristocracies in Europe at that time. Alexis de Tocqueville felt that aristocratic government in Europe was on its way out and would soon be replaced by democracy.
Alexis de Tocqueville was a low-level judge in the French court system and along with Gustave de Beaumont was sent to America by the government of France to study new experimental prisons in America. They spent nine months traveling the United States, studying the prisons, and collecting information on American society. After they returned to France in February 1832, Tocqueville and Beaumont submitted their report on the prison systems in America. He spent the next eight years writing two volumes on his observations that became one book which de Tocqueville titled Democracy in America. "Tyranny of the Majority" is part of Chapter 15 entitled: "Unlimited Power Of Majority, And Its Consequences."
The book was written for Europeans and since America was a young nation, most had only a vague idea about its unique democratic system. The main reason Tocqueville wrote this book was to provide a coherent analysis of a functioning democracy for his audience in France. There had been more than a few failed attempts at democracy in his native country and Tocqueville was interested in providing a legitimately democratic alternative. He also felt that since the opinions of the majority prevailed, that it was necessary that precautions should be taken to limit its power. He also felt that those precautions were not in place in the United States.
Tocqueville felt that because the members of the legislature were elected by a majority of the people, democracy would increase the strength of the authorities while it enfeebled those minorities which were naturally weak. He also felt that there would be instability in government and because of frequent elections, the elected officials would change the laws to suit the current majority opinion. He compared it to the French monarchy where the principle was that the King could do no wrong, and he felt that the public would be more likely to obey under such a form of government whereas in America there was allowed dissent which lead to instability.
Because the interests of the many are to be preferred to those of a few, those in the minority cannot hope to bring the majority over to their side. As he was sent to examine the prison systems in America, he mentioned a situation that had occurred in France. The prisons were in a poor state and there was much corruption. In order to improve conditions and set up a system where the focus could move toward rehabilitation and not just punishment, new prisons were constructed. The public was interested in the beginning. However because such changes take time they lost interest. While the new prisons were being built the old prisons still existed and contained even more offenders. The jails became more unwholesome and more corrupt. The majority was so eager to found new prisons that the existing ones were forgotten.
A majority, taken collectively, can be considered a being whose opinions and interests are often at odds with another being, which is the minority. Tocqueville felt that as an individual man possessing absolute power could misuse that power to wrong his adversaries, a majority would also be liable to do so as well. He also felt that because, in free countries, everyone is free to give his opinion on affairs of the state, more people would be likely discuss the weaknesses it those governments than they would if they were living under an absolute monarchiy. He felt that this complaining about government would be so common, and that it would lead to a more extensive debasement of the characters of its citizens.
Tocqueville wrote that the greatest dangers of the American republics proceed from the unlimited power of the majority. Governments usually fall, he said, due to either impotence or tyranny. He felt that it is almost always by abusing its force and misusing its resources that a democratic government fails. He quotes Jefferson in the final paragraph which effectively gives a summary to his ideas. Jefferson wrote in a letter to Madison: “The executive power in our Government is not the only, perhaps not even the principal object of my solicitude. The tyranny of the Legislature is really the danger most to be feared, and will continue to be for many years to come. The tyranny of the executive power will come in its turn, but at a more distant period.”
The main idea Tocqueville was writing about is that without powerful opposing checks on the power of the majority, America’s democracy had the potential to abuse the minority. The country was fairly young and he did not see the checks and balances that are put in place by the Constitution were adequate to prevent this from happening.