6 - Manifest Destiny: Tocqueville's Insights

•Read the PDF of Tocqueville's comments on the "Tyranny of the Majority" and discuss. •Each question is connected to a paragraph in the PDF. The paragraphs are indicated at the beginning with numbers in parentheses (1), (2), etc.
• (1): If individuals can misuse power, why might a collective like a majority be just as capable of injustice?
• (2): What does he mean by saying liberty requires obstacles to power, and how can limits actually protect freedom?
• (3): Why does he claim that even a democracy can contain “the germ of tyranny”?
• (4): How does his logic challenge the assumption that more freedom always means more justice?
• (5): If every branch of government represents the same majority, what danger does he see for those in the minority?
• (6): Why does he fear “a submissive silence” after the majority has decided, and how does he reason that intellectual freedom depends on dissent?
• (All 6 paragraphs): If the will of the people becomes absolute, can a democracy still claim to defend liberty—or does it merely replace one master with many?
***Connections to Andrew Jackson's presidency as a populist leader during Tocqueville's visit to the US:
•How might Tocqueville’s warning about the “tyranny of the majority” help us interpret Andrew Jackson’s belief that he spoke for the people even when opposing the Supreme Court or Congress?
***Connection to the present state of America:
•In an age where public opinion spreads instantly through media and technology, how might Tocqueville’s fear of “submissive silence” appear in modern America? What would resistance to it look like? How effective would that resistance be? Can you give specific examples of this?