Democracy In America-1 [114]
high amongst nations. *w As for the Powers of Europe, they are too distant to be formidable.
[Footnote w: [War broke out between the United States and Mexico in 1846, and ended in the conquest of an immense territory, including California.]]
The great advantage of the United States does not, then, consist in a Federal Constitution which allows them to carry on great wars, but in a geographical position which renders such enterprises extremely improbable.
No one can be more inclined than I am myself to appreciate the advantages of the federal system, which I hold to be one of the combinations most favorable to the prosperity and freedom of man. I envy the lot of those nations which have been enabled to adopt it; but I cannot believe that any confederate peoples could maintain a long or an equal contest with a nation of similar strength in which the government should be centralized. A people which should divide its sovereignty into fractional powers, in the presence of the great military monarchies of Europe, would, in my opinion, by that very act, abdicate its power, and perhaps its existence and its name. But such is the admirable position of the New World that man has no other enemy than himself; and that, in order to be happy and to be free, it suffices to seek the gifts of prosperity and the knowledge of freedom.
Chapter XI: Why The People May Strictly Be Said To Govern In The United States
I have hitherto examined the institutions of the United States; I have passed their legislation in review, and I have depicted the present characteristics of political society in that country. But a sovereign power exists above these institutions and beyond these characteristic features which may destroy or modify them at its pleasure - I mean that of the people. It remains to be shown in what manner this power, which regulates the laws, acts: its propensities and its passions remain to be pointed out, as well as the secret springs which retard, accelerate, or direct its irresistible course; and the effects of its unbounded authority, with the destiny which is probably reserved for it.
Chapter X: Why The People May Strictly Be Said To Govern In The United States
In America the people appoints the legislative and the executive power, and furnishes the jurors who punish all offences against the laws. The American institutions are democratic, not only in their principle but in all their consequences; and the people elects its representatives directly, and for the most part annually, in order to ensure their dependence. The people is therefore the real directing power; and although the form of government is representative, it is evident that the opinions, the prejudices, the interests, and even the passions of the community are hindered by no durable obstacles from exercising a perpetual influence on society. In the United States the majority governs in the name of the people, as is the case in all the countries in which the people is supreme. The majority is principally composed of peaceful citizens who, either by inclination or by interest, are sincerely desirous of the welfare of their country. But they are surrounded by the incessant agitation of parties, which attempt to gain their co-operation and to avail themselves of their support. Chapter X: Parties In The United States
Chapter Summary
Great distinction to be made between parties - Parties which are to each other as rival nations - Parties properly so called - Difference between great and small parties - Epochs which produce them - Their characteristics - America has had great parties - They are extinct - Federalists - Republicans - Defeat of the Federalists - Difficulty of creating parties in the United States -What is done with this intention - Aristocratic or democratic character to be met with in all parties - Struggle of General Jackson against the Bank.
Parties In The United States
A great distinction must be made between parties. Some countries are so large that the different populations which inhabit them have contradictory
[Footnote w: [War broke out between the United States and Mexico in 1846, and ended in the conquest of an immense territory, including California.]]
The great advantage of the United States does not, then, consist in a Federal Constitution which allows them to carry on great wars, but in a geographical position which renders such enterprises extremely improbable.
No one can be more inclined than I am myself to appreciate the advantages of the federal system, which I hold to be one of the combinations most favorable to the prosperity and freedom of man. I envy the lot of those nations which have been enabled to adopt it; but I cannot believe that any confederate peoples could maintain a long or an equal contest with a nation of similar strength in which the government should be centralized. A people which should divide its sovereignty into fractional powers, in the presence of the great military monarchies of Europe, would, in my opinion, by that very act, abdicate its power, and perhaps its existence and its name. But such is the admirable position of the New World that man has no other enemy than himself; and that, in order to be happy and to be free, it suffices to seek the gifts of prosperity and the knowledge of freedom.
Chapter XI: Why The People May Strictly Be Said To Govern In The United States
I have hitherto examined the institutions of the United States; I have passed their legislation in review, and I have depicted the present characteristics of political society in that country. But a sovereign power exists above these institutions and beyond these characteristic features which may destroy or modify them at its pleasure - I mean that of the people. It remains to be shown in what manner this power, which regulates the laws, acts: its propensities and its passions remain to be pointed out, as well as the secret springs which retard, accelerate, or direct its irresistible course; and the effects of its unbounded authority, with the destiny which is probably reserved for it.
Chapter X: Why The People May Strictly Be Said To Govern In The United States
In America the people appoints the legislative and the executive power, and furnishes the jurors who punish all offences against the laws. The American institutions are democratic, not only in their principle but in all their consequences; and the people elects its representatives directly, and for the most part annually, in order to ensure their dependence. The people is therefore the real directing power; and although the form of government is representative, it is evident that the opinions, the prejudices, the interests, and even the passions of the community are hindered by no durable obstacles from exercising a perpetual influence on society. In the United States the majority governs in the name of the people, as is the case in all the countries in which the people is supreme. The majority is principally composed of peaceful citizens who, either by inclination or by interest, are sincerely desirous of the welfare of their country. But they are surrounded by the incessant agitation of parties, which attempt to gain their co-operation and to avail themselves of their support. Chapter X: Parties In The United States
Chapter Summary
Great distinction to be made between parties - Parties which are to each other as rival nations - Parties properly so called - Difference between great and small parties - Epochs which produce them - Their characteristics - America has had great parties - They are extinct - Federalists - Republicans - Defeat of the Federalists - Difficulty of creating parties in the United States -What is done with this intention - Aristocratic or democratic character to be met with in all parties - Struggle of General Jackson against the Bank.
Parties In The United States
A great distinction must be made between parties. Some countries are so large that the different populations which inhabit them have contradictory