In 1835 Alexis de Tocqueville published the first book of Democracy In America. America was an energetic place, bustling with citizens seeking fortune, reform, or just good company. In 1840 he published book two, and wrote that in a democracy "there is little energy of the soul" (703).
What happened? In five year's time, his attitude reversed entirely. Though this is the only direct contradiction I have found, most of book one praises democracy and briefly mentions it's dangers, while book two warns that democracy could degenerate into Soviet Russia and briefly mentions the benefits of democracy. Though ends by saying that the pros and cons of democracy are roughly equal, there is a major change in tone between the two books.
I wonder if the difference was the five years, or if he deliberately divided the work into the more positive and then the more critical sections. Certainly a careful observer would find both.
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