Laws that Promote Democracy

Something I really like about Tocqueville’s style of writing is his usage of examples that do not seem obvious. I would not have expected the idea of land inheritance to come up in a book about democracy, as it did here. The law of inheritance is one that Tocqueville mentions as something that promotes democracy in the United States. It is a change of “law” and also habit from what existed in Tocqueville’s France, which he believes is necessary in order to be democratic. In France land is passed on generation to generation, without being divided, and therefore stays within the family name and wealth does not become altered dramatically.  In the United States, the law of inheritance gives equal shares of property to the next generation. In turn, land is subdivided and holdings become too small to continue to own, therefore there is much more selling and buying, and other forms of having wealth (other than land).

Tocqueville uses this example to prove that changes in law are necessary for democracy to work in France, so that the revolution was not a “waste”. I like his usage of examples that would not be expected. He really proves his original quote valid, that in order for democracy to succeed, laws, habits, ideas and morals need to be altered.