John Elster - Alexis de Tocqueville. The first social scientist

8/12/2019 John Elster - Alexis de Tocqueville. The first social scientist

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lexisde Tocqueville, the FirstSocial Scientist

JON ELSTER

Collge de France

J CAMBRIDGE-:;B UNIVERSITY PRESS


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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

ambridge, New York, Meborne, Madrid, ape Town, Singapore, So Pao, ehi

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Jon er 29

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ir pbihed 29

Prined in he Unied Sae o merica

A catalo record for tis publication is available from te Britis Libra.

Libra of Conress Cataloin in Publication Data

er on, 194-exi de Tocqevie : he r o cia cieni / Jon er.

p. cmncde bibiographica reerence and index.ISBN 978525 8444 (hardback - SBN 978527474(pbk1 Tocqevie, exi de, 85 8 59 2 Socia cieni - France - Biography.3 Socia cience - Phioophy 4. Socia cience rance - Hiory Tie59 53 47 293.92 - d22 2836545

[B)

SBN 9785215 8444 hardbackSBN 978527474 paperback

ambridge Univeriy Pre ha no reponibiiy or he perience or accracy o URS orexerna or hirdpary nerne Web ie reerred o in hi pbicaion and doe nogaranee ha any conen on ch Web ie i, or wi remain, accrae or appropriae.normaionregarding price, rave imeabe, and oher aca inormaion given in hiwork are correc a he ime o r prining, b ambridge Univeriy Pre d nogaranee he accracy o ch inormaion hereafe

Contents

Preface page ii

A Noe on he Texs l

ntouton

Peeene FomationI I

Beie Fomation 27

Se-Inteest an Iniiuaism47

4 Passions 59

5 Desies, Oppotunities, Capaities 79

6 Pattens o SQia Causaity 94

7 Equaity an Mobiity 4

Demoati Goenment 133

Reoution 15

onuson 1 1

References 193

Index 199


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Preface

I s ea Toqueie amos y yeas ago as pa o my Fenhsuies a he uniesiy As I was agey ignoan o soia sienean o hsoy I was unabe o bene om him When I eune oDemocrcy n Amerc een yeas ae haing spen mos o he

ineening yeas eanng hose isipines I ha an epeiene I haeony ha wih wo ohe books Thomas Sheing'sStrtegy of Conctan Pau eyne's Le pn et e crque. The wok pu me n suh a sae oineeua an neous eiemen ha I ou no si si bu ha oge up om my hai an wak abou om ime o ime

When I ie o peneae moe uy ino he wok is biianebegan o seem moe bining han iuminaing As I epain in heInouion an oumen houghou he book Toqueies unsysemai no o say inoheen anayses ea om he aue oDemocrcy n Amerc as a guie o eihe emoay o Ameia

On uhe eeion howee I was abe o unesan why my iniiampession was jusie. Insea o assuming ha Toqueie wasa poiia heois o an obsee o Ameian soiey I began eainghim as a soia sienis Democrcy n Amerc is e o he bim inee someimes oeowing wih sma an meiumsize ausamehanisms an highy sophisiae mehooogia insighs haahough hey o no a up o he gan heoy o whih he aspiehae asing aue. Een oay i seems o me hey ae no as uyepoe an uiize as hey ough o be.

v


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x A Note on the Texts

et discours politiues, Pais Gallimad 98 5, also in he Oeuvres Compltes as OC 2

I ie Toqueilles 83 aie fo he dinurgh Review on "Po-liial and soial ondiion of Fane by efeing o 0 as aboe

R efes o he Recollections, New Bunswik, NJ: Tansaion Pub-lishes 987

L refers o he Lettres choisies, Paris: Gallimard2003 .Translaions

ae mneR efes o The uropean Revolution and Correspondence with

Goineau Glouese, Mass: Pee Smih 98

Introduction

The ile of his book plaes me in a minoiy posiion on wo sepaaeouns

Mos sholas of Toqueille hink he was a gea poliial heois,and pay lile aenion o him as a soial sienis They iew his mainonen as nomaie, no as explanaoy Alhough I inend o showha he was an impoan soial sienis, i is of ouse hade o poehe negaie saemen ha he was no a majo poliial hinke Indeed,I am no going o make a sysemai agumen o ha efe I maymenion, as one indiao, ha in he index o John Rawls'sA heory ofJusice hee a weny efeenes o John Sua Mill, bu no a singleone o Toqueille A moe die efuaion of any laim on his behalfo be a gea poliial hinke is gien by he hugely inoheen suueof he wok on whih any suh laim would hae o es, Democracy inAmerica I beliee he bulk of he pesen book will make i leabeyond doub ha in ha wok, a leas, Toqueille was no a sysem-ai hinke Alhough he asses in he Inoduion o he book haa new wold needs "a new poliial siene, he does no poide i Hiswok on he anien gime, while muh moe oheen and sysemai,is a pofound wok of hisoial soiology bu no of poliial heoyYe, o epea, my laim ha he was no an impoan poliial heoisis sily subsidia o my posiie agumen

Mos soia l sieniss, if hey hae ead Toqueille, pobably do nohink he is up o hei sandads They may applaud his ambiion, bu


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Preference ormation

oduced dung centues of let. It does not seem tue that the siit ofliteatue and of the ats s echaged o that the attan hgh efection whenliet s destoed R 168)

The immeiae oiuaio o his passage i s impora or he ighi shes o Toquevie's heory o poiia rasiios ha wi oerus i Chaper 6 For ow, I oy wa o raw aeio o Toquevies

objeios o he "hyraui theo o he mi I my opiio, hisobjeios o o ommi him o a eia o hyraui mechanismsTwo passages I sha ie shory srogy o i a sugges some ki ohyraui mehaism i he reaio bewee poiia a reigiousauhoriy

The hree ees operae o geerae osisey or iversiy opreerees aross spheres of activity.O Broay speakig, we may is-iguish amog he oowig spheres reigio, ieraure a he ars,poiis, warare, a "ivi soiey or "privae ie iuigeoomi reaios a he amiy) Oasioay, Toquvie aso

reers o spiover ees isie oe o hese spheres Ahough hehree mehaisms are muh more requey ie i D ha i R,Toquevie aso makes impora use o hem i he aer ork

The spillover effect a oe be ieie by he verbs Toquevieuses o esribe i, transporter (a more rarey passer, se continer, orse propager), usuay rasae as "arry over, "raser, or "passo (Whe he uses iere aguage, ieiyig he ee a bemore oroversia) By eiio, he proess ivoves wo sphereshe origi o he preeree i quesio a is esiaio I shars isuss how risk attitdes a time preferences spi over rom

oe sphere o aoher, a he osier some oher imporaappiaios o he spiover ee

e he term preerence o render wha Tocqeve denote varo a habt,ntnc, paon, and tae The reaon among thee dpoona termare compex, and hard to te wheher Tocqeve e hem wh ematcnance o meanng n one eter, or nance, he cam to ove bert b ate,eqat b ntnc L p and n anoher o awa have oved ber bntnc L p 5 g, mercan car he prt o trade over no agrctre (DA p 6 47 or achczen o the nted Sae ae he nere aroed b h tte repbc tae andcarre t over nto ove o the common aherand (p. 8 4; ranaton moded

we ha ee n h h e ao appe he dea o the pover eec to bee ormaton

Spillover Compensation Satiation 5

I D Toquevie repeaey emphasizes ha he Amerias areriskakers A eoque saeme is he oowig epaaio o heak o sigma assoiae wih bakrupies

The audacit of thei industal undetakings s the ima eason fo thei ad

ogess thei stength and thei gandeu. Fo Amecans indust is like a vast

lote in which a small nume of men lose dail ut the state wins constantl.uch a eole should theefoe look favoal on oldness in indust and hono

it Now an old undetaking isks the fotune of the eson who atemts it andof those who lace thei tust in hm. Amecans who make a kind of vue of

commecal ecklessness cannot n an case stigmatize the eckless. D, 3 '

From iusry, he spiri o riskakig a riskovig spis overio warare

en in democacies natuall feel a assionate dese to acque quckl andenjo easl the goods the dese. ost adoe isk e hasar and fea death fa

less than tol. t i s in this siit that the usue commece and ndust; and this

same st when the ca t to the atleeld makes them willing to sk theilives n ode to assue themselves n an nstant of the soils of victo. No fomof gandeu satises the imaginaton of a democatc eole moe full thanmlita gandeu which is sectacula and sudden and otaned wthouteffot meel sking one's lfe. D, 5)

Why, we migh ask, o he Amerias ove risk i ommere aiusry? Toquevie aswers ha "Those who ive ami emoraiisabiiy have he image o hae osay beore heir eye, aeveuay hey ome o ove a uerakigs i whih hae paysa roe D, p 66). For hem, emigaio "has beome a game ohae, whih hey ove as muh or he emoios i sirs as or hepro i brigs D, p 326) Or agai, "A Ameria eperiees ao ie as a game o hae, a ime o revouio, a ay o bae D,p 66) The auses a ees o emorai isabiiy wi oer usi Chaper For ow, we shou oe ha Toquevie here appeas o

n he r vome o Democracy in America Tocqeve had oered an expanatonha doe no have th nconat ant n the nted Sate, here are no awregardng radent banrpce h perhap becae there are no bankrptce?o, on the contrar, becae there are a good man n the mnd o the maort,he ear o beng proected a a bankrpt otwegh the ear o beng rned b hebanrptc o oher (DA p 57 Th a mpe expected argment


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6 Preferenc Formation

he eamenal ac o insabiliy o eplain he menal aiue oiskaking. (In he Conclusion I noe ha he conese causal elaionmay also apply) In echnical language, a meanpeseing incease inhe aiance o possible oucomes is associae wih a peeencechange om he less isky opion o he moe isky.

The iea can be illusae by assuming ha in each o wo socieies,

ames ace he choice beween wo cops wih he sa me epece yielbu ieen aiance. Le me wie > o he peeence elaion anle each eession beween paenheses epesen a loey wih a pecen chance o each yiel being ealize.

Sociey

3 > ( Sociey B

1 > (

In sociey B, he ac ha boh aailable cop opions ae highly iskyinuces a peeence o he moe isky oe. T my knowlege, conempoay economics an psychology hae nohing o say abou his

paicula om o amor fati.Consie ne he oigin an eecs o ime peeences. Tocqueille

claims ha emocacies en o inuce a sho ime hoizon:

When everyone is consanly seeng o change places, and all are free o enera vas copeive arena, and riches are accuulaed and dissipaed in he blin of

an eye under he uuluous condions of deracy, he ind becoesacquained wih he dea of sudden and easy forune and of grea wealh easilywon and los, as well as wih he age of chance in all s fors. The insabiliy ofhe social sae encourages he naural nsabiliy of huan desires. Ad heseperpeual lucuaions of fae, he presen loos large; i hides he fuure, which

fades fro view, and en no longer wish o hn beyond oorrow D, p. 640

Hee Tocqueille oes no claim ha emocacy causes a "pue imepeeence o immeiae ewa oe elaye ewa. The agumenseems ahe o be ha he peasie ole o chance o isk causes peopleo isega unceain uue ewas: "I seems poinless o hink aboua uue ha is so ha o peic ahea o ime (0 , p. 128 We shallsee seeal eamples o his enency. Elsewhee, howee, he seems oague ha emocacy oes inuce pue ime peeence: "Mos peoplewho lie in ages o equaliy . wan o achiee gea success insana-neously, bu wihou gea eo DA, p. 498 O again, wha "makes i

ha o men in emocaic ages o commi hemseles o ambiious

Spillover Compensation Satiation

neakings is he amoun o ime hey epec o hae o eoe opepaaion DA, p. 74). n nally, "Since men who lie in emo-caic cenuies] oinaily aspie only o acile an immeiae pleasues,hey hasen impeuously ae he objec o each o hei esies. Theslighes elay plunges hem ino espai DA, p. 826 The causal linkbeween emocacy an pue ime peeence emains unclea, howee.

The lasquoe passage coninues wih a eeence o he spilloeeec: "This empeamen, which hey cay oe in poliical lie,makes hem impaien o oms poceual omaliies] ha coninu-ally slow o hal he ealizaion o hei esigns Religions may,howee, see as an anioe o hese enencies:

In cenuries of fah, people locae he uliae purpose of life afer life. Hencehe en who lve in such es naurally and in a sense nvolunarily becoeaccusoed o coneplaing, for years on end, a xed obecve oward whichhey advance seadily, and by ipercepible degrees hey learn o repress a hou

sand leeing desires he beer o graify he one grea and peranen desireha orens he. When hese sae en urn her aenion o earhlyaers, he sae habs reasser heselves . . . . elgons nculcae he general

habi of acing wih an eye o he fuure I n so doing, hey conrbue as uch ohe happness of his world as o he feliciy of he oher D, p. 63 9)

Wha happens when eligion loses is gip on he mins? In "cenu-ies o isbelie we will obsee he enency escibe aboe (in hepassage quoe om DA, p 64). In his case, he emey lies in pol-ics. Een hough \e ole o chance an api lucuaions can nee bebanishe om he economic sphee, in a emocacy

[hose who govern us do all hey can o banish chance fro he world ofpolitics . . . In ies of sepcs and equaliy . . one us ae care o ensureha he favor of he people or he prnce, which chance ay confer or wihhold, does no ae he place of nowledge or service. I is desirable ha everyadvance should be seen as he fru of soe effor, so ha greaness is no ooeasily acqured and abiion is obliged o se is sighs on a goal for a long iebefore achevng i. D, p. 64; y alics

By a spilloe eec, he habi o longem planning in secula maes may een eceae eligion:

When en are used o predicing long in advance wha will happen o he

here below and o hriving on heir hopes for he fuure, i becoes difcul for

/-


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8 Preference Formation

he always o conne heir houghs wihin life's exac boundaries, and heyare quie prepared o ranscend hose liis and cas an eye on wha lies be-yond Thus he eans ha allow en, up o a poin, o do wihou religionare perhaps in he end he only eans lef of bringing he huan race bac ofaih D, p 641)

Tocqueie uthe assets the eistence in Ameica o a spioe

eect om piate to pubic ie wheeas in Euope the inuence unsin the opposite iection "n Euope we oten take ieas an habitsom piate ie with us into pubic ie. By contast Ameicansamost aways ca y the habits o pubic ie oe into piate ie Withthem the iea o the juy tuns up in games paye in schoo anpaiamentay oms inuence een banquet aangements DA,

Een in Ameica howee the causa chain ma y un om piate topubic ie. Among "the actos that ncouage conomy in heAmeican goenment Tocqueie istinguishes the institutions o

emocacy om the habits o commece the uga "habits o piateie cay oe into pubic ie DA, pp. Moe geneay "Thepassions that moe Ameicans most eepy ae commeia athe thnpoitica o pehaps it wou be bette to say that Ameicans takehabits ome in tae an cay them oe into the wo o poitics9

The most impotant spioe eect howee seems to go ompoitics to economics. n the chapte o the st oume o DA on"the ea aantages to Ameican society o emocatic goenmentTocqueie makes the stiking caim that these benets ae to be oun

ony in the sie eects o bypoucts o emocacy an not at a in thepocess o poitica ecision making

The ceaseless agiaion ha deocraic governen inroduces ino poliicshen spreads o civil sociey a no sure ha in he end his is no he greaesbene of deocraic governen, so ha praise i far ore for wha i causeso be done han for wha i does There is no denying ha he people ofenanage public affairs very badly Bu hey could no ae par in public affairs

a all wihou broadening heir ideas and abandoning se ways of hining

ee aso DA p 6 n rope, viray a soca disorders are born a home coseo he hearh and no ar rom he marriage bed I is a home ha men become

scorn o nara es an permssibe peasres and acqire a ase or disorder.

Spillove Compensation Satiation 9

eocracy will ofen abandon is proecs before harvesing heir fruis, or i

will ebar on dangerous advenures n he long run, however, i achievesore han despois does each hing less well, bu i does ore hings eocracy does no give he people he os sillful governen, bu wha idoes even he os sillful governen is powerless o achieve i spreadshroughou sociey a resless aciviy, a superabundan srengh, an energy hanever exiss wihou i, and whch, if circusances are even slighly favorable,

can accoplish iracles These are is rue advanages D, pp 2798 1 )

Democacy in othe wos is to be aue not o what it oes(bay in the poitica sphee but o what it causes to be one (we)in the economic sphee. O as Tocqueie assets succincty in theats "emocatic goenment is not goo but a souce o sociaactiity 0 p 99 n the secon oume o DA, Tocqueie spesout this agument as oows in the chapte on cii an poiticaassociations

is hrough poliical associaions ha Aericans of all wals of life, all cass oind, and al l ages daily acquire a general ase for associaion and ailiaieheselves wih is use arge nubers of people hus see and spea o oneanoher, coe o a coon undersanding, and inspire one anoher in all sosof join venures Laer, hey ae he lessons hey learn his way and carry heover ino civil life, where hey pu he o a housand uses D, p 68)

The compensation effect cannot be ientie by a specic teminoogy. athe t has to be econstucte om the ogic o the agument. mputing it is theeoe ineitaby a moe agie o isyentepise The eect is aso cite much ess equenty than the spi

oe eect. Yet beiee that its eistence an impotance aeuneniabeThe compensation eect aises when nees that ae enie an outet

in one sphee o actiity seek satisaction in anothe Let me oesomeiustations om an impotant book on the histoy o ueing byFanois Biacois. ( cite uthe iustations in the Concusion.) Hesuggests that the eation between ioence on the stage an eengebeaio in siteenthcentuy Engan an Fance was goen by thecompensation eect "At a time when Fance was a pey to ues ancoectie eenge its theate gae ony a mino pace to the theme oeenge in Engan which escape these conusions o socia sensi

biity the theate was ominate unti 1 by the theme o engeance


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by he Reenge Tragedy Can his simply be oinidene? n hisdisussion of he relaon beween duels and warfare, Billaois obseresha onemporaries argued n erms of boh he spilloer and heompensaion effes: "Many obserers hough ha he Wars of Re-ligion engendered hese pariular disorders, or a leas ha i is fromhe hear of our iil wars ha our duels hae aken heir igor, so well

do hese wo eils go ogeher' Bu ohers judged i o be he end ofhe iil, and indeed inernaional, hosiliies under Henri I haprodued so large a number of quarrels, hese beng he only wayby whih young men beliee ha hey an gain greaer praise in imesof peae " similar relaion obained beween dueling andompeiie sholarly aiiies For young arisoras, "inelleualombas and mimed onfronaions may hae fullled a funion ofsublimaion and diered he aggression of young genlemen away frombloody ghs

The mos sriking insane of he ompensaion effe in Toqueille

arises from his laim ha we are subje o wo onradiory needsToward he end of he seond olume of D he assers a "Ouronemporaries are onsanly raked by wo warring passions eyfeel he desire o be led and he desire o reman free Unable o desroyeiher of hese onrary insins, hey seek o saisfy boh a one Dp He goes on o laim ha he iizens resole he ension bysubjeing hemseles o a power ha hey hae hemseles freelyeleed In he rs olume, howeer, he had offered wha I ake o bea more profound soluion o he same dlemma, in his analysis of herelaion beween religion and poliis

The slogan of he anarhiss was "Ni Dieu n mare Religiousfreedom and poliial freedom wen hand in hand, he one reinforinghe oher Toqueille himself was no alien o his idea Relying on hespilloer effe, he wroe ha

en who ive in ages of equaliy are . . . no inclined o locae he inelecuaauhoriy o which hey subi ouside and above anind. Usualy hey see

Baco (99), p o expa he pac o de Spa, he mar argeha aa oce he de ad he bgh cod be a be or oeaoher (ibid, p )

bid p H ow vew ha whe oreg war redce he mber o de cvwar mae hem (ibi, pp )

Spillove Compensation Satiation

he sources of ruh in heseves or in heir felow en. This is sufcien,

perhaps, o prove ha no new reigion can be esabished in such ages, andha any aep o do so would be no jus ipious bu ridiculous and un-reasonable We ay anicipae ha deocraic peoples wil no nd i easy obelieve in divine issions, ha hey will be quic o oc new prophes, andha hey wil wan o locae he principa arbier of heir beliefs wihin heliis of anind and no beyond. D p 490

Ye paraphrasing T S Elio, we may ask wheher humankind anbear ha muh freedom Toqueille, who asked preisely ha ques-ion, offered a negaie answer

When no auhoriy exiss in aers of religion, any ore han in poiicalaers, en soon becoe frighened in he face of unliied independence.

Wih everyhing in a perpeual sae of agiaion, hey becoe anxious andfaigued. Wi h he word of he inelec in universal lux, hey wan every-hing in he aerial real, a leas, o be r and sable, and, unable oresue heir forer beiefs, hey subjec heselves o a aser For y par,

doub ha an can ever olerae boh coplee reigious independence andoal poiica ibery, and I a inclined o hin ha i he has no aith hemust serve an d i he is ree he must believe. (D p. 503; y ialics

On his analysis, he wo "onrary insins are saised in eren spheres In demoraies, Toqueille argues, men seek relgion as anoule for heir need for auhoriy n despo regimes, hey see irreligion as an oule for heir need for freedom " Een n our own me wend men who beliee hey an redeem heir seriliy o he peies ofofials by eir insolene owar God and who, een as hey aabanoned all ha was frees, nobles, and proues n e orns

of he Reoluion, sll boas of remaining rue o is spri by renreligion R p 57)

6 he mo eoqe aeme o h dea occr a 44 dra o a peech parame, whch he reer o "m damea dea, whch he recocaoo rego ad ber, he dea ha wa a make o eparae hem, ad ha orew oce ca co o a ha prce er h carage o a ahor heoca word, he herarch, he am, he poca word, oe cao bwho a authrity he eeca ad mora word; ackg here, oe whave o d omewhere do o wa o go, a ew herarch or a gea pocapower Oe wod eed oder ad pro ah abohed OC p 5 )or aoher mpora aeme ohe compeao eec, ee he eer o Kergoa

L pp 5-9), who, or h par, arged or a pover eec


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2 2 Preference ormation

aristocratic socitis, Tocquvill tlls us, th comnsation ctinducs rligion b a dirnt mchanism, clos to Marx's ida of rligionas th "oim of th ol. On ths account, what causs rligion is notth nd for authorit but th nd for happiness: "In nations whr tharistocrac dominats socit . . . th ol vntuall bcom accustomdto ovr as th rich do to oulnc. . . . Th oor man's magination is

divrtd toward th othr world. Though grid b th misris of rallif, it scas thir hold and sks its satisfaction lswhr D . 8Anothr imortant instanc of th comnsation ffct ariss in th

rlation btwn olitics and litratur in rrvolutionar Franc.Bcaus of th lack of olitical frdom undr th old rgim, "oliticallif was forcibl channld into litratur, and writrs, taking it uonthmslvs to dirct ublic oinion, for a whil hld th lac that artladrs ordinaril occu in fr countris R . . Latr, "Whn[th nation] nall had to act, it carrid or ranspota into oliticsall th habits of litratur R . this is th sillovr ffct.

An imortant fatur of this argumnt is th concatnation of th twomchanisms, comnsation ffct and sillovr ffct. Bcaus th ban onconcrt criticism of th govrnmnt rvntd writs from ngagingdirctl with olitical mattrs, th turnd to abstract thorizing thatth govrnmnt was willing to tolrat. Latr, whn th had th o-ortunit to go into olitics, th rtaind this disastrous ronsit toroos gnral schms that took no account of facts on th ground.

The satiation effect (which might also b calld "th crowdingoutffct) can b illustratd b th rlation btwn conomic and olitical dmocrac. According to som writrs, on rgumnt for artici-ation in th worklac is that it rars th mind for broadr olitical

involvmnts. Yt this sillovr ffct is sur to b attnuatd b thshr fact that participation takes time. "Th troubl with socialism,Oscar Wild is rortd to hav said, "is that it taks u too manvnings.

An obsrvation b Tocquvill rsts on a rlatd argumnt: "Pri-vat lif in dmocratic tims is so activ, so agitatd, so lld with

7 h govrm rahr rad orad aac o h dama prcip owhich oci h rd, ad v dicio o God him, providd ha orrad rom comm o h mo gica o ag p 6

For a xamp o ra gorg h ac o h grod, p 89.

9 S dma (8 or a v ad a mpirca ad cricim.

otivate Motivations 2

dsirs and l abor that individuals hav virtuall no nrg or lisurlft for olitical lif D . 9 Hr, too, w ar daling witha concatnation of mchanisms. Pol ar oftn rluctant to ntrinto civil associations, sinc most of thm "rquir mmbrs to risk aortion of thir rort. Industrial and commrcial comanis arall lik this DA . Through th sillovr ffct from olitical

associations "th larn to subjct thir will to th will of all and tosubordinat thir individual fforts to th joint vntur . . . Politicalassociations can thrfor b lookd uon as vast fr schools towhich all citizns com to larn th gnral thor of associationsD . Yt th vr succss of civil associations undr-mins, b th satiation ffct, th olitical associations from whicth srang. For Tocquvill, this is a disastrous consqunc. Hoints out that th govrnmnts of dmocratic socitis, whil warof otntiall subvrsiv olitical associations, "fl a natural bnvolnc toward civil associations, bcaus th can s radil that

ths, far from ncouraging citizns to tak an intrst in ublicaffairs, srv to distract thm D . Onc th school ofolitics has taught th citizns th habit of associations, th bcomso bus with thir commrcial affairs that th hav no tim forolitics.

Th absortion of Amricans with thir businss affairs also ntrsinto th xlanation of th infrqunc of adultr: "Th tumultuouslif of constant worr that qualit brings to mn . . discourags lovb driving th of th lisur to indulg in it DA . Similarl,"dmocratic ols av nithr th lisur nor th dsir to sk outnw oinions. Evn whn th com to doubt th oinions th hav,th hold on to thm nvrthlss bcaus it would tak too much timand rquir too much stud to chang thm D . As w shalls in th nxt chatr, bcaus Amricans lack lisur for stud andrfction, th ar ld to tak a shortcut b adoting gnral,alluros idas rathr than following William Blak's dictum: "Artand scinc cannot xist but in minutl organisd articulars.

IAED IAIN

At th outst of this chatr I rfrrd to th ida o f motivatd blif

formation. In a coul of assags Tocquvill hints at th imortant


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Preference Formation

ida of motivate formation of motivations. Th ida is not asaradoxical as it ma sound In an socit thr is a normativhirarch of motivations W arov or disarov of ol notonl for what th do but also for thir motivs W might alaudsombod who ks on a dit for halth rasons but ridicul a rsonwho acts in xactl th sam wa out of vanit W might alaud

a whistlblowr if w bliv h is motivatd b th ublic intrstbut chang our mind if w larn that h onl actd out of grd ormalic Knowing this ol hav an incntiv to rsnt thmslvsto othrs an to themselves as bing animatd b a high rathr thana low motivation In a ristocratic socitis this scondordr motivationma caus ol to rsnt thir slfintrstd actions as basd onhonor:

In arisocracies, wha is held in conep is no precisely or bu wor forpro Wor is glorious when inspred by abiion or pure virue Underarisocracy, however, i is a frequen occurrence ha he an who wors for

honor s no insensible o he lure of gain. Bu hese wo desires are joinedonly in he ueros dephs of his soul He aes grea pains o hide fro aleyes he pace where he wo are ed. He is ap o hid e fro hiself Dp . 642

In Amrica mor surrisingl th normativ hirarch ma causol to rsnt thir altruistic actions as basd on selfinterest

Aercans are pleased o explain nearly al heir acions in ers of self-neres properly undersood. They wil obligingy deonsrae how enigh-ened ove of heseves regularly leads he o help one anoher ou and aes

he ready and willing o sacrice a poron of her ie and wealh for hegood of he sae n his pon I beieve ha hey ofen fal o do heselvesusce, for one soeies sees ciizens of he Unied aes, ie ciizens of ohercounries, yielding o he dsineresed, sponaneous ipulses ha are par ofan's naure. Bu Aercans sedo ad ha hey gve in o enhusiass ofhs nd D p. 6

In a lttr from 8 that imlicitl contrasts Amrica with Monts-quiu's ida that rublics ar basd on virtu h writs that "th

20 See lter 999, . ad lter a, . 4 or ller anale

otivate otivations 5

articular intrst manifsts itslf visibl and announcs itslf as a socialtheo This is a far cr from th ancint rublics L, 8 mitalics)

A fw ags latr Tocquvill aals t ol's interest in theafterlife to mak th sam argumnt: "I hav mt zalous Christianswho rgularl forgot thmslvs so as to work mor ardntl for th

hainss of all and I hav hard thm claim that th did so onl to bworth of th blssings of th othr world But I cannot hl thinkingthat th ar dluding thmslvs D H might hav adddthat according to most varitis of Christian tholog th ffort wouldb slfdfating Tring to urchas a lac in havn b good ddswould b to forc th hand of God who is not likl to lt that han

W ma ask whthr this "norm of slfintrst and th cod ofhonor in aristocratic socitis mak an diffrnc for behavior orwhthr th mrl rovid x ost rationalizations for actions un-drtakn on othr grounds I bliv th norms can mak a diffrncsiml bcaus th cannot b switchd on a nd off at will Whn honoroints in on dirction and matrial intrst in anothr th lattr mahav to ild

W ma also ask howvr whthr Tocquvill dos not xaggratwhn h claims that Amricans ar rluctant to admit to bing disin-trstd Thr ma indd b socitis in which a concrn for thcommon good is th objct of gnral disaroval It has bn claimdfor instanc that in southrn Ital th norms of "amoral familismhav this ffct Whthr this claim is tru or not a similar claimabout th Unitd Stats strtchs th imagination In th lat ightnthcntur Amrican lits roagatd what amountd to a cult of disin-

trstdnss It is rasonabl to think that th still st th ton halfa cntur latr In fact Tocquvill himslf assrts that th did:

21 n thedrafts forDA, Tocquevlle adoptsa more nuanced position: "Americansdonot

consttutea vituous peope, and nevertheless they arefree Thisfact doesnotabso-

utely prove that vrtueis not essentato the exstenceof republcs, asMontesquieu

thought t was . . . In Ameica it is not virtue that is greatbut temptations that are

sma, whichamounts to the same thng t s not thatdisinterestedness s great, but

that interest is enightened, which aso amounts almost to the same thing" (0 I

P 103 5)

Mlle 999 Baned 98.

Wood 98


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As soon as oon affairs ar da wih in oon, ah an ss ha h i sno as indpndn of his flow n as h iniialy iagind and ha, in ordro obain hir suppor, h us ofn nd h his oopraion. Whn hpubli govrns, no on is unawar of h vau of h pubi's good wil, and

vryon ris o our i by winning h s and affion of h popaong who h is obigd o liv. vra of h passions ha hil and dividhars ar hn obligd o wihdraw ino h rsss of h sou and hid hr.

rid dissiulas onp dars no rar is had . gois is afraid of isf.D pp. 599

Hence we seeTocqueville both afrming the normof selfinterestamongthe Americans andclaimingthat theywere afraid of admittingto act out of selfinterest. No doubt some of the individuals he metcorresponded to the rstprole and others to the second Inone con-text,thelatteroccurredto him; and when he came todiscuss phenom-ena where hecouldmakeexplanatoryuse of the formerhe had, a Isuggested inthe Introduction, forgotten hisearlierargument

Belef Foraton

INRDUCIN

W hav blifs about man kinds of issus Thr ar factual

blifs (rgarding, for xaml, th numbr of iano tunrs inPhiladlhia), causal blifs (rgarding, for xaml, t imactof minimal wag lgislation on unmlomnt), rligious blifs(rgarding, for xaml, th xistnc of th aftrlif), and oliticalblifs (rgarding, for xaml, wthr afrmativ action is acctabl) . Exct for th lastmntiond (which is mor a rfrncthan a blif), all ths blifs rsuos that thr is a fact of thematter, som ftur of th univrs b virtu of whic th blif, iftru, is tru All blifs, also th last mntiond, can srv as rm-iss for action Som, howvr, mainl srv as consolation for mis-

r As w saw in Chatr this is how Tocquvill xlaind wth mass of th ol in aristocratic socitis blivd in thaftrlif

How do ol com to hav th blifs th hav? On answrmainl rlvant for factual and causal blifs, is that ol formrational beliefs in ordr to achiv thir aims as wll as ossibl Throcss involvs both th otimal gathring of information and tcorrct rocssing of information Anothr answr, which ma alto all sorts of blifs, is that th ar subjct to motvate belef

ve a cae, e ma erve a a preme for inaction T wa Marx' view.


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22/108

0 Blief Formation

indndnc condition is satisd. Phas, howv, ach citiznwongl blivs that all oths hav achd thi oinions b ind-ndnt considation of th vidnc, and hnc (imlicitl lingon th Ju Thom) is inclind to tust th majoit Th sminglaadoxical fnc to th "owful ssu that th mind of allxts on th intllignc of ach (DA . 9 can b undstood

along ths lins. That would b a cas of "lualistic ignoanc,a hnomnon to b discussd shotl. Th mchanism would at mostxlain, howv, how th majoit oinion maintains itslf ov tim,not how it mgs

On th oth hand, th citizn follows th majoit bcaus "th isno mo invtat habit of man than to cogniz suio wisdom inhis osso (DA . 9. Instad of this hbolic languag, wmight has sa that ol hav a nd to b lik oths. Evnhaving a ivat oinion that diffs fm t majoit oiin is uncomfotabl. In dmocacis, "mn smbl on anoth, and what

is mo, th suff in a sns fom not smbling on anoth(DA 80 n. ) In addition, as I discuss lat, th ma sff fomth sanctions that oths imos on dviants. It is imotant to nthowv, that motivatd confomism can ais ml b obsvingwhat oths do and sa vn whn on is not obsvd b thm.

RAINAL ELIE AND GENERAL IDEA

Nith th cognitiv no th motivational mchanism i s likl to hldmocatic citizns aiv at rational blifs. Elswh, howv,Tocquvill is mo chaitabl. Whn daling with actical qustions,

as distinct fom olitical o ligious matts, dmocats a fctlcaabl of achiving ationalit, a statmnt that is not contadictdb th fact that th oftn gt it wong In th standad tho of

6 is disssio o f slaver i Ameria Toqevile aso ies e ede o reogize e wisdom of oes oppressor "al l all i Gods essig or a al rse of iswra is disposiio of e so a reders ma isesie o exreme miser adideed ofe ispires i im a sor of depraved ase for e ase of is misforeslged io is ass of woe e egro sare feels is afliio iolee madeim a slave aiaio o servide as give im e ogs ad amiios ofoe. e admires is ras eve more a e aes em ad ds is o ad is

pride i servile imiaio of is oppressors (DA pp 66-67)

Rational Beliefs an eneral eas

ational choic, in fact, th aim of blif fomation is not to aiv at ttuth, but to guid action. Bcaus th collction and ocssing ofinfomation qui not onl matial soucs but also tim, whicmight hav bn snt on oth activitis, a ational agnt will oftnchoos to act on blifs that h knows to b ool goundd andsuscts ma b fals. Accoding to Tocquvill, this is sciall tu

of thos who liv in dmocatic socitis:No only is ediaion difcul fo en who lve n deocaic socieies, buhey ae inclned by naue o hold in elaively low esee The deocaicsocal sae and insuons encouage os people o be consanly acive, andhe habs of ind appopae o acon ae no always appopiae o hough.

The an who acs is ofen foced o see fo appoxiaions, because hewould neve acheve his goals f he insised on pefecion in evey deail . . .All hings consideed, i is less isy fo h o invoe a few false pincipes han

o wase ie ying o show ha all his pncpes ae ue. D, p 524)

Pactical an d oliticoligious blifs dif in this gad I n a vconfusing and, I susct, confusd wa, Tocquvill offs two saatagumnts concning th o ofgeneral ieas in ths domains. In onassag h assts that th habit of asoning in tms of gnal idasaiss fom th fact of qualit and thn mats all doma ins of blifb vitu of a sillov ffct:

[A peson who lives in a deocaic couny sees aound hi only people oeo ess lie hielf, so he canno hn of any segen of huaniy wihou

enlaging and expanding hs hough unil i ebaces he whole of anind.Any uh applicabe o hisef sees applicabe n he sae way o all hisfelow czens and fellow huan beings. Having becoe accusoed o usinggeneal ideas in the eld o studies that takes up the better part o his time and

interests him most [he peson who ives in a deocaic couny caies hehabi ove [transporte] ino ohe elds, and in his way he need o discovecoon ues eveywhee, o subsue lage nubes of obecs unde a singlefo, and o explain a se of facs by adducng a single cause becoes an adenand ofen blnd passion of he huan nelec D, p. 496)

A fw ags lat, h offs an account that is btt in lin with thationalblif analsis:

eope who ive in deocaic counies ae vey avid fo genea deas because

hey have eavely e eisue and such deas ae i unnecessay o wase


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2 Belief Formation

i dlving no paricular cass his is ru, bu only wih rspc o mattersthat do not oupy their minds on a regular and neessary basis rchans willagrly siz upon any gnral idas on ay wish o lay bfor h concrning philosophy, polics, scinc, and h ars, and hy will no xain hsidas vry closly Bu hy will no nrain idas havng o do wih businssunil hy hav xand h, and will accp h only naivly D,pp 499500)

Th two hass I hav italicizd in which Tocquvill dns thld of alication of gnal idas sm had to concil with onanoth but has th st is too vagu to b in latout contadic-tion with anthing If askd which agumnt is mo convincing I'dctainl ot fo th scond Th cautious mchant who knows thatmistaks can hav sious consquncs will not bas his ofssionaldcisions on vagu and gnal idas But on Sundas h ma bha to sculat about th natu o th univs and th fuof mankind in was that off him satisfaction at littl cost Th

satisfaction to b su is suious Th intllctual ang divd fomsubsuming a hnomnon und a gnal conct is intinsicall lssgatifing than th ang ou gt fom xlaning t in tms of itscauss but it is also asi to achiv If on dosnt know an bttit is as to confus it with th al thing

In fact Tocquvill agus in dmocacis lowcost sculation isalso common in ofssional intllctuals In Chat I citd a assagin which h assts that "Most ol who liv in ags of qualit want to achiv gat succss instantanousl but without gat ffot(DA 98 . "This tast fo as succss and instant gatication hwits "can b sn in intllctual usuits as wll as oth aas of lif(ibi "Gnal idas ack a lot into a small volum so to sak andild a gat dal in a shot iod of tim (ibi

This agumnt alis mo scicall to historians in dmocaticsocitis Tocquvill maks a twofold distinction btwn dmocaticand aistocaic socitis on concning th gims thmslvs andon concning th histoians who liv in th on o th oth On thon hand h maks th (unviabl) claim that "Gnal facts xlainmo things in dmocatic cntuis than in aistocatic ons andaticula inluncs xlain lss (DA Yt this is not thonl ason wh histoians in dmocatic socitis (whn witing

about ths socitis) ttach mo imotanc to gnal causs In

Rational Beliefs an eneral eas

addition th mhasiz gnal causs (vn whn witing aboutoth socitis) bcaus of th tndnc of dmocatic intllctuals totak shotcuts " [Th xaggatd sstm of gnal causs is alsoan admiabl souc of consolation fo mdioc histoians It invaiabl ovids thm with a fw gand xlanations usful fo quicklxticating thmslvs fom an difcultis th ncount in thi

woks and it favos wak o laz minds b allowing thm to gana utation fo ofundit (ibiIt is wothwhil to aus a t this oint to ask whth Tocquvill

himslf in th Intoduction to DA was not guilt of xcssiv liancon gnal idas As I notd in th Intoduction to th snt bookthis txt has a v diffnt tno fom all his oth witings If fo"dmocac w substitut "fdom and fo "God substitut"ason th following assag could hav bn takn fom Hgl(whom Tocquvill knw onl aft h wot DA and thn onlscondhand):

vrywhr a divrsiy of hisorical incidn has rdoundd o docracysbn. vryon playd a par hos who srov o nsur docracy's succssas wll as hos who nvr dra of srvng ; hos who fough for i as wllas hos who dclard hslvs is nis rivn pllll down a singlpah, so in spi of hslvs, ohrs unwingly blind insruns in hhands of od. D, p. 6

Shon of htoical xcsss th Intoduction has in fact a simlanaltical stctu Fist not that b "dmocac Tocquvillh all mans "qualit H blivd that qualit could takon of two foms dnding on whth it allid itslf with fdomo with dsotism Whn Tocquvill assts that th ogss of dmocac is "isistibl (DA 4) h did not f to oliticaldmocac qualitcumlibt ath h intndd to asst that thag of th fudal monach basd on natual hiachis was gonfov Th asstion is not basd on an kind of tlolog but onolitical scholog Hiachis onc bokn cannot b ut backtogth again Th a th oduct of slow gadual dvlomntsy vitu of which thi authot coms to aa as natual and

See ao he reeence n p o wrer who nd hee bme heore o eed

her van and ghen he abor


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3 4 Belief Formation

unqustonabl If brokn b rvoluton, th cannot b rstord ba countrrvoluton bcaus th no longr hav th sam gr onol's mnds Although traition can b a lv forc, th dlbratattmt to rstor t, traitionalism, s strl Hnc, "Pol whothnk of rvvng th monarch of Hnr or Lous XIV sm to mqut blnd . I am nclnd to blv that soon thr wll no longr b

room n Euro for anthng but dmocratc lbrt or th trann ofth Casars (DA, . .Nxt, rcsl bcaus thr ar ths two ossbl dvlomnts,

Tocquvll was abl to sca th roblm of fatalsm Th strongstobjcton h has to hstorans who lv n dmocratc tms s thatth "not onl dn crtan ctzns th owr to act on th fat ofth ol but also dn ols thmslvs th ablt to sha thrown dstn . If ths doctrn of fatalt . wr to srad fromwrtrs to radrs . t would soon aralz th nw socts adrduc Chrstans to Turks (DA, 72 For Tocquvll, b contrast,

th rrvrsbl rogrss of qualt was consstnt wth th ossbltof choice: "Th cha ng . s alrad so owrful that t cannot bstod t not so rad that thr s no ho of altrn ts drcton(DA, 7 .

Tocquvll clamd that th Frnch oltcal cultur n thghtnth cntur (or n hs own tm) was vn mor obsssd wthgnral das than th Amrcans Th man xlanaton was that "ouroltcal consttuton stll rvntd us from corrctng thos [vr gn-ral] das through xrnc and graduall dscovrng thrnadquacs (DA, . 99 as th Amrcans wr abl to do Ths

I a draf mausrip for DA Toqueville assers ha he auhori ha ress oisiive respe is asolue as log as ood oess is righ; i is redued oalmos ohig he da i eomes a oe of disussio p 00 s MarBloh ( 9 6 haper I poied ou whe Freh our ofials offered doumeed proof of suessful healigs of srofula he Kigs ouh he ee woulde o udermie raher ha sreghe he elief i his powers.

9 Weil (9) Iwas more diful for Mar o esape he faalis paradox. B saig ha he adve

of ommuism was ieviale he weaeed he ieive for he idividual o orue o rigig i ao.Ever morig upo awaeig d ha someod has jus disovered some

geeral ad eeral law I had ever heard of efore p. 49)

Tocqueville an Hegel vs. Montaigne an Pascal 3 5

da s mor full slld out n th work on th Frnch voluton.As a rsult of th sllovr ffct:

The spiit that guided the Fench evolution was pecisel the sae as thatwhch caused so an boos to e witten on govenent n the astact. Thesae ondness o geneal theoes, coplete sstes o legslation, and exactset n the law; the sae contept o exsting acts; the sae condence

n theo; the sae taste o the oiginal, ingenious, and novel in insttutons;the sae uge to eae the entie constituton in accodance wth the ules ologc and a unied plan, athe than see to aend ts ault pats. A teingspectacle! Fo what is etoous in a wite is soetes a aw n a statesanand the sae ualities that have oten gven ise to geat liteatue can also lead

to geat evolutons. R, p.

B contrast, th Engls "show much lss attud and tast forgnralzaton of das than thr Amrcan rogn (DA, 9manl bcaus "thr arstocratc abts causd tm to clng to glartcular [das] (ibi.. Evn toda, n th wntrst cntur, t

Englsh ma sm mor rsstant to crtan hghng forms of ab-stract nonsns than th Frnch and th Amrcans Ts statmnt sof cours tslf a dangrous gnralzaton In ts doman, as n manothrs, thr s mor varaton wthn than across countrs. A strnghof AR s, as w shall s, that Tocquvll taks full account of vara-tons wthn Franc as wll as of dffrncs among Franc, Enland,and Grman Hs analss of Amrca ar usuall mor coarsgrand, wth man rfrncs to "th Amrcans and lttl mntonof class or rgonal dffrncs (th SouthNorth dstncton s an x-cton). H was sml mor knowldgabl about Franc and

Euro, so that h could rl mor on facts and lss on sculaton

C QUEILLE ND EGEL ERU NAIGNE AND PACAL

In th rst volum of DA, mortant dscussons of blf formatonoccur n th chatr on th frdom of th rss and n th chatr onth omnotnc of t majort Th formr consdrs stags n blf

e does sa ha Whe I use he erm glomerias am speakig ol of hevas majori of hem. usid he majori here are alwas a few isolaed idivid

uals p. 43 60). Bu his is a far from admiig gup differees.


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6 Belief Formation

ormaion and h lar h rol o conormism in bli ormaionI now considr hm in urn.

In h char on h rdom o h rss Tocquvill ocuss no somuch on h content o blis in dmocraic sociis as on h moe inwhich hy ar hld and h rquncy wih which hy change. Imlic-ily h also rooss a usul disincion bwn h dh and

srngh o blis. Unorunaly h subscion on which I shallocus (DA, . is incohrn. Tocquvill bgins by makinga srong samn ha is conradicd by h immdialy ollowingaragrahs.

Bcaus o rdom o h rss h rs assrs ol in dmocraicsociis ar dogmaically aachd o hir oinions

When an idea, whethe just uneasnale, taes pssessin the Aeicanind, nthing is e dicult than t get id it he sae thing has eenseved in England, the Eupean cunt which a centu nw hasehiited e geatest eed thught and the st invincile pejudices

(D pp. 223)

Th rs o h subscion is hn dvod o a higly inrsinganalysis o why his is not always h cas. Dogmaic adhrnc oblis i urns ou is no an invarian aur o dmocraic sociisalhough i dos characriz hm in hir arly sags.

Tocquvill sags h scn or h discussion by ciing a gra man[who] onc said ha iorance lies at oth d of knowlege (DA, Alhough h dos no idni h gra man i is no doub ihrMonaign or Pascal (wriing undr Monaigns inlunc) Th

MonaignPascal hory o h dvlomn o bli may b conrasdwih wha w migh call h HglTocquvill hor. Lik h ormr

' ma e plauil aered a ere i a ifaoo igorae wi preedekowledge ad aoer dooral igorae wi ome afer i Moaige 99p. 49 Kowledge a wo exreme wi mee oe i e pure aural igoraeof ever ma a ir e oer i e exreme reaed grea mid wo ruroug e wole rage of uma kowledge ol o d a e kow oigad ome ak o e ame igorae from wi e e ou u i i a wie igorae wi kow ielf oe wo ad alfwa ave pu eir aural igoraeeid em wiou aaiig e oer e ave ome maerig of adeuaekowledge ad upe everig. Te upe e world ad ge everig wrog

(aa Penses # ed ruwig.

Tocqueville an Hegel vs. Montaigne an Pascal

h lar hor siulas hr sags in h dvlomn o bli navdogmaic bli doub and skicism and maur rciv bli.

Tocquvill xrsss his disagrmn wih h "gra man byclaiming ha "I migh hav bn rur o say ha d convicionsar ound only a h wo nds and ha in h middl lis doub. Indd on can disinguish among hr disinc and on succssiv

sas o human inllignc(ii..

Th rs sag is h "habi obliving rmly bu uncriically. Whn rdom o h rss ndsol in his condiion i iniially causs hm o chang "hir uncriical blis rom on day o h nx. From on nd o h inllcual horizon o h ohr man hror coninus o s only on oina a im bu ha oin changs consanly (ii.. In his sag blisw migh say ar srong bu no d.

iion o his oscillaion inducs larning. "Soon . . . h wholrang o nw idas is xlord. Wih xrinc coms doub andunivrsal misrus (ii.. In his scond sag blis ar nihrsrong nor d. Paradoxically his misrus maks blis mor sablno lss

It has een seved that in centuies eligius ev en setieschanged aiths, while in centuies dut each an clings stunl this wn elies. he sae thing happens in plitics unde eed thepess. ince all scial theies ae citicized and cated ne ate anthe,anne wh nce adhees t ne the hlds n t it nt s uch ecausehe is sue that it

is gd as ecause he is nt sue that anthing else s ette

In such centuies, peple ae n ead t die thei pinins ut thed nt change the, and ne nds th ewe ats and ewe apstatesD p 214)

In h hird sag which will nvr b aaind by "mor han a vrysmall numbr o mn w obsrv a "rciv slassurd convicionha grows ou o knowldg and mrgs rom h agiaion o doubisl (ii.. I may no b a ru Hglian synhsis howvr.Tocquvill assrs ha h is no "sur howvr ha rciv slassurd convicions o his kind vr xal mn o h sam dgr oardor and dvoion ha dogmaic blis insir (DA, . n. Hnc blis may b d bu no ncssarily vry srong.

egelia laguage ee woud e ei aiei ad ei.


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3 8 Beli{ Formation

This thstag modl is ctainl a lausibl attn of blifdvlomnt It ma o ma not contadict th MontaignPascalmodl, dnding on whth th two a suosd to al to thsam kinds of blif And vn if th a, on modl ma b alicablin som situations and on in oths Th valu of Tocquvill's anal-sis, h as lswh, lis in th uncoving of mchanisms ath than

in th fomulation of laws

C N RI

Tocquvill's analsis ofconfomism is on ofhis most stiking achiv-mnts t is also, as is oftn th cas in , svl ambiguous In thsubsction "On th ow that th majoit in Amica xciss ovthought, it is not ntil cla whth h is daling with inn con-fomism of thought o with out confomis of bhavio H wsthat "Tann in dmocatic ublics ignos th bod and gos

staight fo th soul (, 294) In a lat sction h laboats onthis ida:

As en coe to esebe each othe oe, each individua ees weae andweae visvis a the othes. Not seeing anthing that its hi a above theest and sets hi apat, he oses condence in hise when the cobat hi.Not on does he doubt his stength, but he begins to doubt his ectitude andcoes ve cose to aditting that he is wong when ost peope sa he i s. Theajoit has no need to oce hi; it convinces hi. D pp. 7 575 8)

As w hav sn, th mchanism that inducs this inn confomismma b ith cognitiv o motivational In th assags I citd ali,th is no fnc to an action by the majority on the iniviual,ml to an intnalization b th individual of th majoit oinion Yt Tocquvill also fs to a mchanism that causs confom-ist bhavio though activ sanctioning of dviants In an loquntcontinuation of a assag citd abov, Tocquvill slls out th

Altoug it applie to preferee formatio a we a to beief formatio imitmelf to te atter. O preferee formatio ee for itae DA p. A kigol power i material . . . it affet atio but a o wa of ilueig will. te majorit owever i veted a fore tat i moral a wel a material wiape wi a mu a atio ad iibit ot ol deed but alo te deire to do

tem.

Conformism 3 9

mchanism of ostacism, including, imotantl, th ostacism ofnonostacizs:

The aste no onge sas You wi thin as I do o die. He sas You ae eenot to thin as do. You a eep ou ie, ou popet and evething ese.But o this da oth ou sha be a stange aong us You wi etain oucivic pivieges, but the wi be o no use to ou Fo i ou see the votes o

ou eow citizens, the wi withhod the, and i ou see on thei estee,the wi eign to euse even that You wi eain aong en, but ou wioeit ou ights to huanit. When ou appoach ou eow ceatues, the

wi shun ou as one who is ipue. And even those who beieve in ouinnocence wi abandon ou, est the, too, be shunned in tun. (D p. 24)

W ma not th valing fnc to feigne fusal of stm Itsuggsts that th confomism it inducs is no lss fignd, out aththan inn This ida is dvlod at som lngth in th lat chatfom which I just citd:

When an opinion taes hod in a deocatic nation and estabishes itse ina ajoit o inds, it becoes sesustaining and can pepetuate itsewithout eot, because nobod wi attac it. Those who initia ejected it asase end up accepting it as genea, and those who continue to oppose it in thedepths o thei heat do not show it. The tae geat pains to avoid dangeous

and utie stugge . . Tie, events, o individua eot b soita inds can in

soe cases utiate undeine o gadua desto a beie without giving anexena signs that this is happening. No one cobats the dooed beie openNo oces gathe to ae wa on it. Its poponents uiet abandon it one b one,unti on a inoit st cings to it. n this situation, its ei pesists ince its

eneies continue to hod thei peace o to counicate thei thoughts on insecet, it is a ong tie beoe the can be sue that a geat evoution has taenpace, and, being in doubt, the ae no ove. The watch and eep sient. he

ajoit no onge beieves, but it appeas sti to beieve, and this hoow ghosto pubic opinion is enough to chi the bood o woudbe innovatos and educethe to espectu sience D p . 58)

Th silnc of th fals blivs, inducd b fa of ostacism, isalso citd as a facto xlaining th aaanc of iligion involutiona Fanc:

What with the ouacit o the opponents o Chistianit and the sience othose who wee sti beieves, thee ensued a state o aais that has oten since

been seen in Fance, not on as egads eigion but in a othe attes.


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0 Belie Formation

hose who etained thei ancient aith ecae aaid o eing alone in thei

allegiance and deading isolation oe than eo poessed to shae

the opinions o the ass. So what was still the sentient o onl a pat othe nation appeaed as the opinion o all and hence seeed iesistile to the

ve individuals who had given it this alse appeaance (AR p 1 5 5

The idea of "the hollow host of blic onion has an interestin

ancestor and a remarkable osterit The second volme of DA inwhich it was rst roosed was blished in 8 Hans Chrstian

Andersen's tale "The Emeror's New Clothes whch rests on the same

basic idea was blshed in 83 Unlike Tocqeville Andersen also

roosed a mechanism for the unraveling of conformism: it sces

for a sinle child to sa that the emeror has no clothes on Recent

deas similar to and erhas insired b Tocqevlle's arment inclde

"lralstic norance and "the siral of slence Next to the

Tocqeville aradox (Ch 9 it is roba t iece of anasis in

hs writins that has had the reatest inlence on social science or

more weakl has been most freqentl cited as an imortant recrsorof later work

DA also contains an additonal conformiteneratin mechanism

and moreover one arment that ndermines the imortance of

ostracism in indcin conformism In several laces he notes that if

men livin n democracies have simlar ideas it is becase ther crcm-

stances are so alike Similar cases rodce similar effects In the

chater in which he rooses the idea of host oinons he also makes

the followin observation:

Men eual in ights education and otune - en o like condition in shot -

necessail have needs haits and tastes that ae not ve diss iila Since thesee things o the sae angle thei inds ae natuall inclined towads

6 Kuran 1 99 is a sud o unraveling inspired Selling 1 97 . xperimens inwi sujes are indued o make maniesl wrong udgmens in order o onormwi e udgmen o oers onederaes o e experimener also sow a onormism unravels wen a single onederae expresses e orre opinion or eseexperimens see ronson 00 or an oer exook o soial psolog.

7 For an overview see Talor 19 .,8 more omplex meanism or generaing pluralisi ignorane is desried in e

seion on e auses o e power o religion in meria. Toquevile argues (DA,pp. 4 -46 a i ose wo do no elieve ide eir inreduli i is n o eause o

ear o osraism u eause e reognie e soi al useness o religion.

Conformism

analogous ideas and while each othe a divege o his contepoaies

and o elies o his own a ll end up unwittingl and unintentionall shaing

a cetain nue o opinions in coon. (DA p. 754)

Elsewhere he adds:

When eualit is coplete and longstanding en having oughl the sae

ideas and doing oughl the sae things do not need to agee with o cop oneanothe in ode to act and speak in the sae wa You constantl see a host o

ino aiations in thei annes ut no ajo dieences. he ae neve

peectl alike ecause the do not shae the sae odel; the ae neve highl

dissiila ecause the do shae the sae condition (DA p 712

These assaes sest a ver different and more innocent ctre of

conformism It does not arise b the relentless ressre of indvidals on

one another bt b the fact that all lve nder the same external con-

ditions 9 Tocqevlle ares in fact that conformism throh fear of

ostracism s unlikely in a socet that like America s characterzed b

hih social mobilit that weakens the oeration of norms of etqetteand codes of honor: "Men who live in democraces are too moble to

allow some ro of them to establsh and enforce a code of etete

Each ndividal therefore behaves more or less as he leases and man

ners are alwas to some extent incoherent becase the are shaed b

each ndividal's feelins and ideas rather than conformin to an deal

model held in advance for everone to imitate DA

Tocqevlle ales the same arment to the work of artsans I n ars

tocratc soceties "the am of the arts is to do the best ossble work

becase the artisans all know each other and have a retaton to

kee (DA 3 B contrast "when each rofesson is oen to allcomers and lare nmbers of racttioners are constantl entern and

leavn the socal bond s destroed and each worker seeks onl

to earn as mch as he can (DA 33 Simlarl n deocratic

states where all citzens are ndistnishable members of the same

crowd and n a state of constant aitaton blc onion has no hold

Its object is forever disaearin and sln awa Hence honor in

'9 Te dra manusrips onain a long passage I pp. 146-4 in wi Toqueville learl and expliil disinguises eween a common model and commonconditions as auses o similari in eavior In arisraies e ormer is more

imporan; in demoraies e laer


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Belef Formation

such stats will alwas b lss imrious and lss orssiv, for honoracts onl with th ublic in viw (, 73 6) .

"In dmocratic stats ublic oinion has no hold a far cr from thclaims in th rst volum dnouncing th trann of ublic oinion indmocracis Thr is no wa, I bliv, in which ths analss can brconcild At th sam tim, if w cut ach of thm down to siz, w can

larn from both. In modrn socitis, som communitis ar sucintlcohrnt and stabl to gnrat rssur to conform, whil othrs turnovr so fast that norms fail to dvlo or to hav much imact20

ELIE AND INERE

The desire to conform is not the onlymechanisminvolved in motivated

belief formation. Our beliefs can also be shapedby our interests, in one of

wo ways. One imporant variey is wishful thinking: the wish is he

fatherof the thought. I have an interest inpromotionthat causes me to

believe, against the evidence, that I will be promoted. Or, to take an

xaml closr to Tocquvills concrns, I ma bliv I can havm cak and at it too A qunt thm in is, n act, that oloftn but wrongl think th can hav th bst of both worlds. Thrxamls follow:

When it coes to the pess . . thee eall is no iddle gound between sevi-

tude and license. In ode to eap the piceless goods that deive o the

eedo o the pess one ust lean to accept the inevitable evils that it beeds.

o see the oe without the latte is to succub to the sot o illusion that

sic nations indulge when tied o ghting and exhausted b thei exetions

the see was to oblige hostile opinions and conta pinciples to coexist

within the sae teito. D pp -9Aeicans want the Union but educed to a shadow: the want it stong in

cetain cases and wea in all othes he petend that in tie o wa t can

gathe all the nations oces and all the count's esouces in its hands et in

tie o peace that it can cease as it wee to exist as i this altenation o

debilit and vigo existed in natue. (D p 5

20 We migt ask nevetheless w modern soceties deveop norms tat eglate nter-actons among strangers, suc as te norm against walkng up to a person at te ronto a us queu and asking to u tat person's place (ler Bocko and Koroov19 91 p. 39 3) ocqueville would ave answered tink tat in democracies tere i

a geneal aversion to te pulic displ a o weat dierences (see DA, p 4)

Beliefs and Interests

eocatic oes ae so ild that even patisans o aistocac nd the

attactive and ate savoing the o a tie the ae not tepted to evet to

the chill and espectul oalities o the aistocatic ail. he would

willingl peseve the doestic habits o deocac i onl the could eject

its social state and laws But these things go togethe and it is ipossible to

eno the one without enduing the othe. D p. 921

In addition to dnouncing ths motivatd mistaks, Tocquvillaso offrd brilliant analss of unmotivated causal fallacis Bcaus of thir imortanc I rsrv thm for sarat tratmnt latr(Ch. 6) Thr I also discuss an ida that is closl rlatd to th thrassags just quotd, and which w ma think of as th imossibilit orinstability of halfway houses.

A scond varit of intrstbasd blif formation ariss whnw adot a blif bcaus the fact that we hold it will srv ourintrst Assrting a falshood ma b mor ffctiv bcaus it is lssas to dtct whn th sakr blivs in it In th Recollections,

Tocquvill claims hat h is incaabl of dciving himslf in thismannr, unlik "most art oliticians Ths, h sas,

ae oten accused o acting without conviction; but expeience goes to

show that this is uch less euent than is supposed It is just tha the

have a acut which is pecious and indeed soeties necessa n poliics

o ceating epheeal convictions in accodance with the eelings andinteests o the oent; and in this wa the can with a toleabl good

conscience d things that ae a o honest. Unlucil I have neve been

able to illuinate ind with such peculia and contived lights o o

pesuade sel so easil that advantage and the geneal weal con-oed. R, p. 22

, t is aso a centa teme n te teature on modernzaton tat governmentsn ackward countres oten stive o limted reoms wic wi or so teeleve give tem te est o ot words. us Cinese and Russian policmakes around te tn o te centu wanted Weste tecnoog wtout Westevalues capitalism wtout ndivdal rgts mode educaton wtout reedom o tepess etc (Levenson 1968, vo I, pp. 61 . KnePaz 977, pp. 1 . Had te readocqueville te mgt ave een ess sangine aout tese prospectsong smlar ines e comments on te conduct o uaure in te consttutionacommttee in 848 tat "eiter te swng o puic opinion nor is own passionsand interests woud ever ave persuaded im to adopt a cause e tougt ad utsuc motves were enoug to make im wis to nd it good and oten tat was

eoug ( pp 173-74).


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4 6 Belie Formation

heaven and earth and, in choosing a religion, so many more important

reasons than the desire for harmony, that it is more plausible to think

that the harmony comes after the event, to consolidate a choice that has

already been made or imposed on other grounds. One could equally

well say that Catholicism, with its hierarchy of angels and saints, is

especially well suited to an aristocratic society that is based on hierar

chy, and that democracy predisposes people toward Protestantism,which, by doing away with all intermediaries between men and God,

places them on an equal footing. In this respect Tocqueville resembles

Marx, whose arguments about a natural afnity between capitalism

and Protestantism are entirely arbitrary and, in fact, incoherent. 25

Tocqueville's sophomoric analyses of the content of religions form

a strange contrast to his insightful comments on the psychological

and social efects of religion

5 Eser 1985), Ch 8.

3

Self-Interest and Individualism

INTRODUCTION

Tocqueville stands rmly in the tradition of the French moralists He

cites Montaigne, Pascal, and La Bruyre Although he does not citeLa Rochefoucauld, many of his observations are in the spirit of the

Maximes.I He must have read, although he does not cite it, a famous

maxim by La Bruyre: "Nothing is easier for passion than to overcome

reason; its greatest triumph is to conquer interest.,2 In Chapter 4 we

shall see several examples of the triumph of passion over interest. First,

however, we must determine how he conceived of interest.

Tocqueville' terminology on this point is somewhat unstable My

interpretation will therefore, more than elsewhere in this book, take te

form of a "rational reconstruction I shall propose a conceptual frame-

work that seems consistent with the texts wile being occasionallymore explicit and elaborate than his own statements

Compare Maxime 107 "One kind of iraion is to boast we never ir withocquevile's commen on George Sand, "I confess ha with more adornmen shewould have sruck me as stil more simpe (R p. 135); or compare Maxime 199"he desire o appear cever often prevents our being so, wih the observation that"nohing makes for success more than not desiring it oo ardenty (R, p 88).ocuevies deniion of egoism cied beow is also cose o L Rochefoucaudsidea of amour-propre: "Sef-love is he ove ofsef and of a things for sef (Maxime supprime # ) It aso seems possibe that his reproach of Machiavei forbeing as i were, insucienty Machiaveian (L, p. 362) may have been inspire byLa Rochefoucauds Maxime 1 24

Characters IV77.

47


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32/108


33/108


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S l d d l


35/108

Slntt an ndvdualm

rfrans from usng ts consttutonal owr to lmt th jursdcton ofth Surm Court ma b that "onc on oltca l facton uss crtanmans that thratn judcal ndndnc, othr factons wll b morwllng to us thos dvcs n th futur.'

ocquvll uss a smlar argumnt, xct that h focuss on thntrst of th mnort to coml wth th majort:

[n he Unied aes each ndivida has n a sense a persona neres nseeing o i ha everyone obeys he aw For a person who s no n hemajory oday may nd hmsef n omorrow, and he respec ha heprofesses for he wi of he egisare now he may aer have occasion odemand for hmsef. D p . 27

[Becase he Uned aes was seed by eqas, no nara and permanenconic among her ineress ye exss. oca saes do exs in whch members

of he mnory canno hope o wn over he maory . . . n he Uned aes,poca qesons of sch an absoe and enera ind canno arise, and aparies are prepared o recognze he rghs of he majory, becase a hopesome day o exercise hose rghs. D, p. 28

hs clams must b undrstood on th background o ocqu-vll's argumnt that n Amrca oltcs, no lss than rvat fortuar n ncssant fux (Ch. ). h Amrcans know that th futur mas altrnatons n owr no lss than th waxng and wanng of rvatfortuns. Undr ths condtons, slfntrst nducs modraton. Wma ask, howvr, wh h als th argumnt to th mnort onl.Would not uncrtant concrnng th futur also caus th majort tolmt s trann ovr th mnort, as n th two xamls I ctd?Prhas th fact that "th majort lvs n rtual slfadoratonDA, . 295) maks t hard for ts mmbrs to magn th mght comto b a mnort 9

IN DIV DU IS M

ocquvll's da ofndvdualm s not as to gras Its cor manngs th tndnc to wthdraw from ublc lf and to rtrat nto thrvat shr of busnss, faml, and frnds. Evn th da of faml

Wlson (99), p 69 we h pn o an anyms eade othe mansrp

ndvdualm 5 7

has a rstrctd manng n dmocracs. Unlk thos who lvd narstocratc cnturs, dmocratc ctzns car nthr about thrancstors nor about thr rogn DA, . 556), onl about thmmdat mmbrs of thr famls. Whras "classs n anarstocratc soct ar hghl dffrntatd and mmobl [and]ach bcoms for ts mmbr a sort of homland wthn a homland

DA, . 56), th unstabl natur of classs n dmocracs (Ch. rvnts ths bonds from formng.In a scondar manng, ndvdualsm sms lttl dffrnt from

unnlghtnd gosm. In th chatr on "How ndvdualsm s morronouncd at th nd of a dmocratc rvoluton than at an othrtm, h bgns b assrtng that "Man's solaton from othr mn andth gosm that rsults from t bcom scall strkng n thaftrmath of a dmocratc rvoluton DA, . 5): "[O]blvous ofth fact that th ma som da nd to call on thr fllow mn forassstanc, [th] mak no bons about showng that th thnk onl ofthmslvs bd.).

In thr sns of th trm, ndvdualsm s a vc. o ach vartcorrsonds a dstnct rmd W hav sn how ndvdualsm n thsns of gosm s ovrcom b th ablt to dfr gratcaton whnon s ntractng wth othrs. o ovrcom ndvdualsm n th corsns, Amrcans "combat [t wth fr nsttutons DA, p 590)Born of qualt, ndvdualsm s nutralzd b lbrt: "As soon ascommon affars ar dalt wth n common, ach man ss that h snot as nddnt of hs fllow mn as h ntall magnd and that,n ordr to obtan thr suort, h must oftn lnd thm hscooraton bd.) Mor tllng than ths vagu hras s an

obsrvaton that I arahrasd at th nd of Chatr b sang thatAmrcan oltcs gav rs to a cult of dsntrstdnss What mattrss not , but pcp bng n as dsntrstd rathr than bngwllng to work for th common good vn whn unobsrvd.

Whn ocquvll rturns to th da of ndvdualsm n AR, t sclar that ts cor manng s ndd what I sad t s. h assag sworth ctng at som lngth:

Or forefahers aced he word individualism whch we have forged for orown se, becase n heir day here was no indivda who dd no beong o

a grop and who cod regard hmsef as absoey isoaed B each of he


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Sel-nterest nd ndividulism

myrad sma grops ha made p French socey had no hogh or any gropoher an se. There was may p hs way a sor o coecve

ndvdasm, whch prepared peope or he re ndvdasm ha we havecome o know. . . . Had anyone been abe o pmb her nner dephs moreoverhe wod have dscovered ha hese same peope beng qe smar o oneanoher, regarded he msy barrers ha dvded hem as conrary o boh he

pbc neres and common sense and, n heory a any rae aready worshped

ny ach cng o hs own condon becase ohers dsngshed hemsevesby hers ye a were prepared o merge no a snge mass provded no one

sood o n any way or was eevaed above he common eve. R p. 134)

This passage emodies a type of cooperation prolem that we havenot encountered so far Recall that in the Prisoners Dilemma, there isa tension etween what is rational from the point of view of the in-dividual and what is good for the collectivity. Each citizen would likeeveryody to pay taes, ecept for him. Here, y contrast, each wouldprefer to sacrice his parochialism on the conition that others do sotoo In the Prisoners Dilemma, the ostacle to cooperation is egoism

here it is lack of information aout what others really want. e situation is one of pluralistic ignorance (Ch 2) or, as econists would say,of an Assurance Game with incomplete information. As we shall see inChapter 9, Tocqueville argued that this situation was a part of thegeneral elite fragmentation that, when it was not engineered y thesuccessive kings, at least worked to their enet.

4

Passons

INODUCION

n the previous chapter cited the classical trio of motives: interest,

passion, and reason. t is fair to say that Tocqueville had little faithin reason or virtue as the original spring of ehavior. At theindividual level, it may e found in eceptional individuals sch asTurgot (AR, p 1) or George Washington (0 p 976), ut atthe social level, it may at est e approimated or mimicked yenlightened selfinterest It is not so much that he thought thatwhat Madison called the mild voice of reason was easily overruled y the ther two motives rather, he seems to have eievedthat in most people it was not present at al (see, for instance, L,p. 3 4) . As I noted, the simple idea of civic duty is asent from hiswork.

S S ION OV IDIN G IN S

Be this a s it may, Tocqueville certainly elieved that pssion was caa-le of overriding interest In Chapter 3 I cited a passage in which heasserts that longterm interest does not always trump the passions andneeds of the moment (DA p 240), suggesting that enlightened selfinterest can e undermined y passion as well as y shortterm

E


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Pssions

intrst Anothr important instanc ariss from ignoring th ro ofrigion W saw in Chaptr that by virtu of th compnsation ffct,citizns of dmocratic socitis nd rigion By virtu of a diffrntmchanism Ch. 5 ), dmocratic socitis aso bnt from th stabiiz-ing ffcts of rigion both ffcts ar a ssrtd in DA p. 33 ) nc,Tocquvi dpors th viws of som othrwis wintntiond

prsonswho woud sncerely ike o prepare men o be free. hen peope such as heseaack relgous beiefs, hey obey heir passons raher han her neress.

espoism can do whou faih, bu lbery canno. elgion is much morenecessary n he republic hey advocae han n he monarchy hey aack, andmos necessary of a in a democrac repubic. How can sociey fa o persh if,as polical bonds are oosened, mora bonds are no ghened D, p. 340

n anothr passag h suggsts that ny (D pp amngth diffrnt Amrican stats might caus th brakup of th Union. Th

paradox is that athough "southrnrs shoud f most atachd to thUnion, for it is thy who woud suffr most if ft to thmsvs, y]tony thy ar thratning to brak up th confdration (DA p. .

woud be a msake o hnk . . . ha saes ha lose power aso ose popuaon or wher away. There s no ha o her prospery. . . . To hem,however, seems ha hey are growng poorer because hey do no grow rcher

Here d elsewhere pp 6 8, 304 6 33 63 9) s uer wheher Toquevle reerso shortterm eress or shortlived eress Whe he uses oe o he Freh erms orhe ler expresso (r pssger or r du mome), s mos pusbly

udersood he sese o shorlved eress lhough hese my be e more hwms, hey so rse ou o he pssos ey eure o whh s presey hhey ed o due emporry preeree hge (see below). ger d ove, orse, ed o hve shor hle By ors, beg govered by shoermeres be perme eure o dvdul ody re oly bou ody domorrow, omorrow wl re oly bou omorrow d he dy er omorrow. For sube dsusso o hese ssues, see Whe (987), p -

le some ohe oher ouders o sooogy, Toqueve does o expin rego byhe sol bees provdes Hs expos rely oughou o he psyhooglbees rego provdes or he individl he s bees beg oexpoy

He lso mes he sghul omme h s dul o mge drble uobewee wo peopes, oe poor d we, he oher rh d srog, eve he sreghd welh o he oe re ow o o be he use o he weess d povery o heoher p 440) The breup o zehosov lusres he sbly o eder

os wh wo members o uequ sze (Elser 19 9 ).

Envy 6

as rapdy as her neghbors, and hey hnk hey are osing power because heysuddeny nd hemsevs n conac wh a power greaer han heir own. Thusher feeings and passons suffer more han heir neress Is ha no enough

however, o place he confederaion in perl Had naions and kings lookedony o her own rue advanage snce he begnnng of he world, man would

hardy know wha war is. D, pp. 444)

n th Rcollctions, ocquvi constanty appas to thnity ofth main actors to xpain thir bhavior Ch 9) n an amusing passag ts us how, as ministr of forign affairs in th 2nd Rpubic, wasab to mak ading poiticians ignor thir intrst by attrig thrvanity: h "found that ngotiating with mn's vanity givs on th bstbargain, for on oftn rcivs th most substantia advantags inrturn for vry itt of substanc R, p. 233). n his convrsationswith various poiticians who "thought thy had a spcia right to drctour forign poicy, h found tat "it was mor to thir tast that shoud ask for thir advic without taking it than that shoud takit without asking for it ibid.). Eswhr h maks a gnra commntaong th sam ins, which anticipats his rmarks on th sfdstructvbhavior of th its in th ancin rgim:

n rance a governmen s aways wrong o base is suppor on he exclusiveineress and sesh passons of a snge cass. uch a policy could succeed only

n a naon where selfneres couns for more and vaniy for less han wih uswh us, when a governmen so consiued becomes unpopula he members ofhe very cassor whose sake becomes unpopular will prefer he peasure of

joining wih everybody ese n abus ing o he enjoymen of he privieges ipreserves for hem. ( R, p. 4

ENVY

A mor important xamp on a common rading th ky to Tocquvi as a poitica thorist concrns th tnsion btw th passionfor quaity and th intrst in ibrty that charactrizs dmocraticcitizns. Th two cntra passags both nd to b citd:

There i s . . . a manly and egmae passion for equaly ha spurs all men owish o be srong and eseemed. This pass ion ends o eevae he lesser o herank of he greaer. Bu one also nds n he human hear a depraved ase forequaly, whh impels he weak o wan o bring he srong down o heir evel,

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Pssons

and whch reduce men o preferring equaliy in ervude o nequaliy infreedom No ha people whoe ocal ae i democraic naurally depelibery on he conrary hey have an nncve ae for i. Bu lbery no he

principal and conan obec of heir dere. ha hey love wih a love ha

eernal equaly. They lunge oward lbery wh an abrup impule or uddeneffor and, if hey fal o acheve heir goal, regn hemelve o her defea. Bunohng could afy hem wihou equaliy, and, raher han loe i, hey

would perh D, p. 0emocraic people love equaly in all age, bu here are ime when heirpaon for i urn o frenzy. Th happen when a longhreaened ocialherarchy nally deroy ielf n one la neine ruggle and he barrerha once eparaed ciizen are nally noced down A uch me menwoop down upon equaliy a upon conquered poil and cling o i a a pre-ciou good ha omeone would nach from heir grap. The paon for equaly hen nundae he human hear and ll enrely. No ue elling peopleha uch blnd urrender o an excluve paon eopardze her mo cher-

ihed inere hey are deaf. No ue poning ou o hem ha libery iphrough her nger while heir aenion focued elewhere hey areblnd, or, raher, in all he world hey ee only one good worh coveng

D pp. 8384

Athough Tocquvi dos not us th trm "nvy in ths passags,it is cary what h has in mind Th appas to nvy as an xpicatorymotivation ar numrous and cntra n both DA and AR. sha citmany of thm atr in this chaptr, and thn again in Chaptr First,howvr, I want to propos an intrprtation of th two passags intrms of a distinction btwn "whit nvy and "back nvy. Writing(X, Y) for a situation in which prson I has amount X of som goodsuch as mony and prson I has a mount Y, prson is subjct to whit

nvy if h prfrs 3, 3) to 3, 7) and to back nvy if h prfrs 2, 2 to3 , 7) . In back nvy, th agnt is wiing to cut off his nos to spit hisfac, taking a oss to impos an vn argr oss on anothr. In whitnvy passion dos not act to th dtrimnt of ntrst In back nvy it

When Tquevle uses he erms "e usy nd " jeus s he des frequeny, s judgmen wheher hey re be red s synnyms "envy nd "envus

n Tqueves 8 6 es sy n he nen rgme, he ssers he exsene blk envyunder he mnrhy The hrd ese sssed he kng, aganst ther own nterest nrunng he sysem f prveges " hppened h hey reey gve up her wn rghs,when hey hned hve ny, n rder brng he nbes dwn wh hem n mmn desrun 0 p 0)

Envy 63

C E F

NM

M

FGURE

dos, spciay if w assum as I do bow) that ibrt itsf is aintrst

Th various cass may b iustratd by igur abov, hr thrst numbr in ach box rfrs to th v of icom or frdo i ocass of citins ad th scond to th v in aotr W sa coarth prfrncs of t mmbrs of th rst cass wit rgard to th variouspairs of stats dd by ths umbrs. Athough incos ca b uqua, th ibrtis of th two casss ar constraid to b ua Ch. 7 for a discussion of uqua ibrtis i th acin rgm)

Tocquvi rpatdy assrts that citis in dmocratic socitisfavor ibrt This woud b rfctd i a prfrc for stat B ovrstat A. Assuming th sam icom distributios th stat tat hasmor ibrty is bttr. In th rst of th two citd passags ocuvirfrs initiay to wit nvy "which imps th ak to at to brigth strong don to thir v. This woud induc a prfrc for statE ovr stat A. thn gos on to mak th strogr statmt abuta prfrnc for "quaity in srvitud to iuai i frdo Ts

amouts to a prfrc for stat C ovr stat A ad prhaps v forstat ovr stat A. Eitr of ts woud b forms of back v aswoud a prfrnc for D ovr A Sinc dmocratic citis vau ib-rty, giving it up wit o gain in incom as i a mov from to Cwoud b a form of back nvy. Moving from A to woud rquir thwiingnss to sufr a oss of both ibrty and icom for th sakof quaity

I biv w can safy assrt that accordig to Tocquvi, mmbrsof th rst group woud i) prfr B ovr and ii) prfr E ovr A ssuggstd h aso sms to assrt tat thy woud itr iii) prfr C

ovr A or iv) prfr ovr Ar tr any txtua grounds for

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64 Pssins

tnkng tat e aso beeved tey woud (v) preer D over A? Ceary, e ed tat (v) s true, ten e must ave ed tat (v) s true, sne tetzenswoud obvousy (v) preer D to F, but we do not know wetere ed (v) or ony te weaker statement () For dret evdene tate tougt tey mgt preer D over A, we may revst an exampe romte prevous apter Mgt te poor be so motvated by bak envy as

to tax te r eavy, even by dong so tey woud k te goose tatays te goden eggs? As we saw n te prevous apter, Toquevewas wng to entertan ts possbty Te poor may be wng to urttemseves beause o ter sort tme orzon In dong so tey woud,to be sure, go aganst ter objetve or engtened senterest, but notneessary aganst ter nterest s thy pciv it. Tey mgt eternot understand tat onsatory taxes w urt tem n te ong run (aogntve det) o r tey mgt not are enoug about te ong run to benuened by t (a motvatona det) We bserve a moe radatrump o passon over subjetve or pereved nterest wen a personreets an unar proposa about ow to sare a sum o money wt teonsequene tat neter e nor te proposer gets anytng oqueve's anayss o envy among te Ameran states as eraps a bt tat avor.

It s ommon, peraps beause o Toqueve's work, to tnk o envyas a passon tat s more ntense and requent n demoraes tan underoter regmes "We must not bnd ourseves to te at tat demoratnsttutons deveop te sentments o envy n te uman eart to a veryg degree (DA, p 226) He reers to "te demorat sentmento envy (DA, p. 3 59 ) and even to "te demorat dsease o env(R, p. 63) . Tere may be sometng to tese ams, atoug t s ard

to see ow one oud estabs tem. Antropoogsts and storansnd envy n a sorts o soetes Moreover, beause o te stgmatat usuay attaes to overt expressons o envy, te emoton tendsto go underground Be tat as t may, Toqueve mse repeatedytes envy n AR to araterze reatons between ndvduas and be-tween asses n predemorat Frane. To brng out te paraesm,

6 See amerer 2003 ) 2 for dscsson of sc "Umam Games. In expermens rns o a resenmen s a more lkely explanaon an envy for screjecons.

7See for nsance Foser 19 ) and Walco 9 8 )

Envy 65

we may ompare two strkngy smar passages n w Toqueveexpans ow r ndvduas de ter weat to avod povokng teenvy o ter eow tzens An opuent Ameran o te 830S and anauent Fren peasant o te egteent entury are bot ompared tomedeva Jews dng ter weat:8

o o u see his opulen ciizen? oes he no resemble a Jew of he Middle Aes,

afraid les anone suspec his riches? His dress is simple, his demeanor modes.

Wihin he four walls of his home, luxur is adored no his sancuar he

allows onl a few selec uess, whom he insolenl calls his equals (D,

p. 204)

To escape his iolen and arbirar axaion, he French peasan, in he

midde of he eiheenh cenur, aced ike he ew in he Middle Aes He

pu on a show of bein miserable een if b chance he was no. His affluence

frihened him, for ood reason nd anible proof of his in a documen,

which ake in his insance no from Vienne bu from a hundred eaues awa

The Ariculural Sociey of Maine announced in is 76 repor ha i hadconceied he idea of awardin prizes and incenies in he form of liesock

The idea has been dropped," he repor coninued, because of he risks owhich he winners were exposed owin o he base jealous of ohers, who

coud subsequenl ake adanae of he arbirar wa in which axes were

assessed in order o aene hemseles on he winners" (R p 59

In Capter 9 we sa ook more osey at te roe o envy nToqueve's anayses o te preondtons or te Fren RevoutonHere sa ony te a ew reerenes n AR. Amazngy, e says tat

8 Te folowng passage conrms e acacy of Tocqevlles descrpon: "ncaps

laed n rsan socey Jews people worred abo lnks a corelgonss ad oe lxry rade. Occasonally rsan reglaons governed e dress; more oftens was accompsed by smpary aws of e own commnes. Tese lawsadvocaed resan b ess from relgos convcon an o avoid aoung envyn sans ke e poceca of e ec sae Jews were condemned o go abomeanly cad n sadcolored ramen Parens of clden dressed n red or ble rskedns and extoron Ownersp of ewels slks and mxed colors was accepable be osenaos dsplay of em was no and e long black coak was prescrbed ase bes conceamen fo nery Scneder 98 p 433; my alcs).

9 We may conras s atde w e conspcos consmpon a Veblen descrbedalmos a cenry aer person wo s manly conceed w mpressng oerswold no care abo expensve ems a oers canno observe. Wealy nesewomen appaeny ove o dspay er frs b by ceap lngere a fac a explanse falre of Vcoras Secre wen red o esabls self n na owe s

observaon o aren McFall)

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66 Pon

bcaus of th "inxpicab and dtstab privigs of th aristoc-racy, "dmocratic [c nvy ard up in th Frnch hart so intnsythat it sti burns thr today AR, p 225. Eswhr, h maks itcar that th main targt of nvy in th ancin rgim was status andprivig rathr than, as in dmocracis, inquaity of wath Withinth bourgoisi, tax xmptions "d with nvy a who did not shar

in thm AR, p 1 3 1 Across casss, "th systm of nnobmnts, farfrom diminishing th commonr's hatrd of th nobman, incrasd itbyond a masur It was a hatrd mbittrd by a th nvy

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John Elster - Alexis de Tocqueville. The first social scientist

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