POLSCI 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Soft Despotism, Aristocracy, Individualism
Document Summary
2 important points there is a speci c form of despotism that takes over democracies, and we have to worry about it in us. Democratic societies are susceptible to a very special form of despotism we expect the state to provide services, and the more services it provides, the more dependent we become on gov and the more power it has over us. Soft despotism: every time you extend gov services, you extend gov coercion. Isolation: ever waning participation. we become more and more egoistic and retreat to our individual circles. Individualism i take care of me, you take care of you, and politics takes care of itself. Alexis de tocqueville: song of ancient french nobility destroyed the rev. 1st political writer to treat democracy as a serious (rather than aberrant) political form a good thing! ppl use his ideas to criticize america today.
