SOC203H1 Chapter Notes -Alexis De Tocqueville
Document Summary
Feb. 25 reading: tocqueville: what sort of despotism democratic nations have to fear . When the power of the roman emperors was at its height, the different people of the empire still preserved very various customs and mores. The burden of his tyranny fell most heavily on some, but it never spread over a great number. It was violent, but its extent was limited. Despotism would be more widespread and milder. When there is no citizen with great power or wealth, tyranny in some degree lacks both target and stage and thus limits the sovereign"s own spirit. Democratic governments might become violent and cruel at times of great excitement and danger, but such crises will be rare and brief. The type of oppression which threatens democracies is different from anything there has ever been in the world before. Men, alike and equal, are withdrawn into himself, unaware of the fate of the rest, he exists in and for himself.
