(churches, clubs, etc.) that are independent of the fed-
eral government is less powerful than during Toc-
queville’s time. Fear over the loss of individual
freedom is more pervasive in the United States than
ever before.
Tocqueville saw the march of this democratic cul-
ture from the United States into Western Europe and
the world, so its problems and benefits would soon
infect the entire globe. His greatest hope for true indi-
vidual rights was the existence of independent per-
sons, families, and communities that are not controlled
by mass opinion or the state. CONSTITUTIONALguaran-
tees of free association and belief would be the ulti-
mate guardian of liberty.
Alexis de Tocqueville was from an aristocratic
French family. He served in the French government in
several capacities and wrote a history of prerevolution-
ary France (The Ancient Regime, 1856). Recognized
throughout the world as a leading political intellectual,
Tocqueville analyzed the MODERN democratic society
with unusual acumen.
Further Readings
Lively, J. The Social and Political Thought of Alexis de Tocqueville.
Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press, 1962.
Zetterbaum, M. Tocqueville and the Problem of Democracy.Stan-
ford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1967.
toleration
A political concept that began with religious toleration
in REFORMATIONEurope. When nations had a single
official church (for example, CATHOLIC in Spain or
Anglican in England), other churches were persecuted
(with fines, prison, etc.). These DISSENTing churches
(e.g., PRESBYTERIAN, BAPTIST) eventually won legal toler-
ation from the government, meaning that they were no
longer persecuted or outlawed, though they usually
did not receive full civil rights either. For example, in
England, the Toleration Act allowed Baptists to wor-
ship freely, but legal marriages still had to be con-
ducted in the official Church of England. John Locke’s
Letter Concerning Toleration(1689) gives a reasoned
argument for religious toleration (that the state deals
with external behavior of CITIZENs, not their internal
thoughts or conscience). This argument goes into
Thomas JEFFERSON’s case for religious liberty. Since
then, toleration has been applied to other dissenting
IDEOLOGIES(e.g., COMMUNISM), lifestyles (e.g., HOMOSEX-
UALITY), and attitudes (e.g., RADICALcriticism of the
state). In all these cases, toleration does not mean
acceptance or affirmation of the deviant behavior or
belief but simply that legal penalties are no longer
enforced. It means, as John Stuart MILLin On Liberty
argued, that a person or society can tolerate unusual
ideas or behavior (as long as they do not violate other
RIGHTS), but they don’t have to approve of them. James
MADISONsimply said that it shifts the means of persua-
sion from law to informal social action (reasoned dis-
cussion, prayer, etc.). In contemporary U.S. society, for
example, it can mean that homosexuals are no longer
arrested and imprisoned, but the majority of citizens
do not accept homosexuality as normal. Atheists and
communists may be left free to advocate their causes,
but this does not give official governmental endorse-
ment of their beliefs.
Toleration becomes a premier social value in Mod-
ern, ENLIGHTENMENT LIBERALISMwhere individual free-
dom and community diversity require it. Most
traditional societies (ISLAMIC, Chinese) see no reason to
endorse toleration until they wish to enter the world-
wide community and economy, where it becomes nec-
essary to function.
CONSERVATIVEreligious groups (e.g., the CHRISTIAN
RIGHT) often regard toleration as compromise with val-
ues they find repulsive (for example to tolerate ABOR-
TION). In general, however, U.S. society has become
increasingly tolerant of all manner of things, as Alexis
de TOCQUEVILLE predicted. Radical LEFTIST thinkers
(such as CRITICAL THEORYwriter Herbert MARCUSE) or
POLITICALLY CORRECTLiberals often oppose toleration as
much as Conservatives but for different reasons.Further Readings
Kamen, H. The Rise of Toleration.London: Weidenfeld & Nicol-
son, 1967.
King, P. Toleration.London: George Allen & Unwin, 1976.
Wolff, R. P., Marcuse, H., and Moore, B. A Critique of Pure Toler-
ance.Boston: Beacon Press, 1969.totalitarian/totalitarianism
A governmental and social system in which the central
STATEcompletely controls every aspect of life (eco-
nomic, family, religious, educational, cultural, etc.).
Examples of totalitarian countries include NAZI
(FASCIST) Germany, Soviet (Stalinist) Russia (COMMU-
NISM), and Communist China. In each of these 20th-
century regimes, the state controls the individual
through total political regulation of the household,totalitarian/totalitarianism 295