In: Economics
Describe, according to Tocqueville, what events/institutions have brought about "greater equality of conditions." Name at least three--how did they contribute to equality.
Alexis de Tocqueville was a great historian. He traveled to United States to study its prisoners and through his acknowledgement and observations complied his thoughts into a book "Democracy in America". He focused on the key concept of "equality of conditions". He defined it as the ability of any individual to have an equal opportunity in the attainment of success and move forward in life.
He also explained that it is possible only because no inheritances or titles are carried forward from the past and that everyone enjoys similar economies and hence equal opportunities. He emphasized economics to be the most important aspect of equality in the society. He mentions that one of the classes descends the societal ladder and the other climbs up; thus one day they will meet. He states some of the events as the cause for this equality of conditions; the growth of the Western Europe, the invention of gunpowder or printing press and the Protestant Reformation etc as few significant achievements in the field. Some of the events made the old kingdoms fall and also to the rise of power of the commoners. New inventions also led to more independent nature of the common man giving new significance to them.
He focused on the fact that legal rights were important at the time when religious beliefs were fading away. Tocqueville believed in using the energy towards educating the democracy and to refurbish the religious thoughts and to regulate its movements and purposes. He thus focused on building a new science of politics through all this to introduce it to the new world.