Democracy south of America: a Tocquevillean perspective

Abstract

This paper shows how, from a Tocquevillean point of view, the American democracy, far from being a model is, in reality, a unique case. In spite of his erudition, the noble Norman knew very little about the political institutions of the Iberian world. Thus, to study the south of the American continent from a Tocquevillean inspired perspective, it is his method and not his empirical analysis that will be followed. The growing disbelief in democratic institutions in Iberian-American countries, nowadays, brings up the need to study in depth the institutions that are rooted in our political and social tradition. It is quite probable that the mistrust is placed not in democracy itself but in some specific kind of variant of democracy which appears to the Iberian-American population as alien to its destiny. In spite of the merciful wishes of some political scientists, when it comes to democracy, what is good for the United States is good only if it is for the United States.