Tocquevilles Concept of Social Reciprocity in the Democratic Age Essay

Tocquevilles Concept of Social Reciprocity in the Democratic Age - Essay vitrineTocqueville believed that to thrive within democracy, polities require citizens who are highly participatory, who are engaged civically, and who have formed close bonds with one another. From this correlation, he theorizes that civic engagement teaches plenty to be cooperative, which, in turn, affects the body politic, fostering democracy. Thus, in Tocquevilles view, political/civic participation is not simply the manifestation of the fulfillment of citizenship obligations but is the basis for person and hearty improvement.Tocqueville makes much of the spill-over effects of political participation and social reciprocity. He recognizes that political participation has the capacity to create an active citizenry capable of organizing almost spheres of social (and, thus, economic) life. The corollary of this view is that the participatory citizens of this kind of social/commercial system will, of necessi ty, participate in political life. In his view, in that respect is, at the very least, the say-so for a sort of sociopolitical symbiosis.Tocqueville states that the fundamental condition underlying American democracy is equation it is the essential fact from which all others seem to be derived. This social equality did not exist in aristocratic Europe. The aristocracy, although declining, still had considerable power. In the aristocracy social and political power was based on name and birth. Nobility, political influence, and wealth could be passed on from one generation to the next. Social classes were fixed, and it was rare for a person to move up in social class. This lack of social equality prevented democracy from taking hold in Europe. In the United States, there was no aristocracy or rigid social classes, instead there was equality (except, of course, if you happened to be a woman or a slave). According to Tocqueville, this equality of conditions served as a guiding princip le of American democracy. Much of the indite in Tocquevilles work documents how the many trends of social and political life-such as the propensity to form associations-stems from the equality of condition as he describes it. He sees participation (specifically, the organization of private associations) as the principal means by which a people might develop personally, intellectually, and, by extension, socially. Tocqueville views the myriad associations formed by Americans as an capable illustration of the idea of individual benefit being consistent with social benefit. Tocqueville observes that, among their participants, associations foster understanding, cooperation, solidarity, and a willingness to take part in political affairs Among parliamentary peoples associations must take the place of the powerful private persons whom equality of conditions has eliminated. As soon as several Americans have conceived a sentiment or an idea that they want to produce before the world, th ey seek each other out, and when found, they unite. Thenceforth they are no longer isolated individuals, but a power patent from the distance whose action serve as an example when it speaks, men listen. (Tocqueville 517)According to