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Democracy in America Study Guide

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by Alexis de Tocqueville
About 53 pages (15,852 words)
Democracy in America Summary

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Themes

Tyranny of the Majority

In a democracy, tyranny of the majority happens when a legislative body enacts laws that favor the rights of a majority of the electorate and in so doing, diminish the rights of the corresponding minority. The potential for democratic tyranny can be found at every level of government: Municipal, county, state, or country. It can also be enacted by any kind of political majority based on religion, culture, race, wealth, language. Tyranny of the majority can happen even where and when not intended. Tocqueville argues that democracy is a self-correcting political system that can usually fix its own flaws, if enough time has passed and enough political pressure is applied by minorities.

Democratic tyranny is a vice of democracy that cannot be easily avoided. However, the mechanisms of democracy in America allows.....

This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 1,101 words. This study guide contains 15,852 words (approx. 53 pages at 300 words per page).

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Democracy in America from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.

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