Tyranny of the Majority

In free countries, where everyone is more or less called upon to give his opinion on affairs of state, in democratic republics, where public life is incessantly mingled with domestic affairs, where the sovereign authority is accessible on every side, and where its attention can always be attracted by vociferation, more persons are to be met with who speculate upon its weaknesses and live upon ministering to its passions than in absolute monarchies. Not because men are naturally worse in these states than elsewhere, but the temptation is stronger and at the same time of easier access. The result is a more extensive debasement of character. –Alexis De Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1831-32





Full chapter, Unlimited Power of the Majority in the United States and its Consequences—Alexis De Tocqueville