brilliant study which can still be read today for its insights into the operation of
American political culture. It is quite common for modern American political
scientists and sociologists to attempt their own version of his American study,
invariably finding much that is still true. In this work he also develops a political
and social theory about the consequences of mass democracy that is similar in
many ways toDurkheim’smuch later thinking. His principal concern was to
demonstrate that some aspects of the traditional Europeanaristocracyhad
been beneficial, and that their absence in modern democracy raised dangers to
the very values of democracy itself. Formal political equality, without actual
economic equality, put the masses in the hands of those whose wealth gave
them power, but who lacked the aristocracy’snoblesse obligesense of duty
towards those whom they ruled. De Tocqueville also feared the vulnerability of
the masses to demagogic manipulation, and regretted the absence of the
countervailing influence of some aspects of the feudal world order. In this
context he was close to the thinking of British liberals, such as John Stuart
Mill, on whom his influence can clearly be seen. His observations were often
acute, for example seeing that America was becoming an increasingly litigious
society, where not only inter-personal conflicts but also general political
questions rapidly became entangled with the legal system. His predictions
were also extremely perceptive. He was convinced that the USA would
become one of the leading world powers (which was hardly obvious in
1830), and even foretold that its great opponent would be Russia. Ultimately
he approved of American democracy much more than he deprecated it. He
was perhaps the first real political sociologist in that he sought to explain
American culture in terms of its social and economic conditions and its
political culture.
Decentralization
Decentralization denotes a process or situation in which powers and respon-
sibilities are transferred from a central authority to other, usually more local,
organs. The term can be employed in relation to the political decision-making
process, to the distribution of powers between elected authorities and to the
organization of thebureaucracy. Most federal systems of government, for
example Germany, Australia and the USA, exhibit a considerable degree of
decentralization, although they may also (as a result) possess overlapping
authorities. It can simply mean that detailed decisions are made by local
representatives of central powers, though always within policy guidelines,
and probably funding arrangements, dictated by the centre. In this way, for
example, it is unclear that Germany really is a federation, rather than just a very
highly decentralized unitary state, because much of the power of the Land
governments is to decide on the detailed application of federal government
Decentralization