ans
of execution, the latter reduces a truth to a fixed proposition; and
mankind gathers the fruits of individual experience upon its way
and gradually forms the sciences. But the persons who conduct the
administration in America can seldom afford any instruction to each
other; and when they assume the direction of society, they simply
possess those attainments which are most widely disseminated in the
community, and no experience peculiar to themselves. Democracy,
carried to its furthest limits, is therefore prejudicial to the art of
government; and for this reason it is better adapted to a people already
versed in the conduct of an administration than to a nation which is
uninitiated in public affairs.

This remark, indeed, is not exclusively applicable to the science of
administration. Although a democratic government is founded upon a very
simple and natural principle, it always presupposes the existence of
a high degree of culture and enlightenment in society. *d At the first
glance it may be imagined to belong to the earliest ages of the world;
but maturer observation will convince us that it could only come last in
the succession of human history.

[Footnote d: It is needless to observe that I speak here of the
democratic form of government as applied to a people, not merely to a
tribe.]

Charges Levied By The State Under The Rule Of The American Democracy

In all communities citizens divisible into three classes--Habits of
each of these classes in the direction of public finances--Why public
expenditure must tend to increase when the people governs--What renders
the extravagance of a democracy less to be feared in America--Public
expenditure under a democracy.

Before we can affirm whether a democratic form of government is
economical or not, we must establish a suitable standard of comparison.
The question would be one of easy solution if we were to attempt to draw
a parallel between a democratic republic and an absolute monarchy. The
public expenditure would be found to be more considerable under the
former than under the latter; such is the case with all free States
compared to those which are not so. It is certain that despotism ruins
individuals by preventing them from producing wealth, much more than by
depriving them of the wealth they have produced; it dries up the source
of riches, whilst it usually respects acquired property. Freedom, on the
contrary, engenders far more benefits than it destroys;