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TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > Politics > Tocqueville's Terminology

These terms have different meanings for different people. It is argued that De Tocqueville understood these terms in the following way:

Democracy - A social rather than a political term. Democracy is characterised by equality of social condition (social mobility, no ascriptive aristocracy) as well as a variety of social mores that produce this state.

Tyranny of the Majority - A phenomenon characterised by a homogenity of public opinion, caused by the peculiar psychological dynamics of public democratic politics. Tocqueville argues that there is little toleration of difference of opinion in democratic societies. Unlike in aristocratic societies, public opinion is seen as authentic rather than ascribed, and therefore has a great deal more moral force.

Individualism - The way in which one believes that one controls one's destiny independently of others in a democratic society. It also refers to the way in which people may withdraw from public life in a democratic society.

Aristocracy - The antithesis of democracy, in which there is inequality, hierarchy and the interdependence of classes.

Revolution - The (sometimes violent) transition from aristocracy to democracy.

Despotism - A condition in which the state has asserted its control over citizens, civil society and political life.

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