Democracy in America - Vol. 1

Accidental or providential causes which contribute to the maintenance of the democratic republic in the United States—Influence of the laws upon the maintenance of the democratic republic in the United States —Influence of manners upon the maintenance of the democratic republic in the United States—Religion considered as a political institution, which powerfully contributes to the maintenance of the democratic republic among the Americans—Indirect influence of religious opinions upon political society in the United States—Principal causes which render religion powerful in America—How the instruction, the habits, and the practical experience of the Americans promote the success of their democratic institutions—The laws contribute more to the maintenance of the democratic republic in the United States than the physical circumstances of the country, and the manners more than the laws—Whether laws and manners are sufficient to maintain democratic institutions in other countries besides America—Importance of what precedes with respect to the state of Europe.

A DEMOCRATIC republic subsists in the United States, and the principal object of this book has been to account for the fact of its existence. Several of the causes which contribute to maintain the institutions of America have been involuntarily passed by or only hinted at as I was borne along by my subject. Others I have been unable to discuss, and those on which I have dwelt most are, as it were, buried in the details of the former parts of this work. I think, therefore, that before I proceed to speak of the future, I can not do better than collect within a small compass the reasons which best explain the present. In this retrospective chapter I shall be succinct, for I shall take care to remind the reader very summarily of what he already knows; and I shall only

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