Alexis de Tocqueville discussed how he believed that majority rules in the United States. He writes about how the majority in America has control over the opinions of the masses and how people do not think for themselves. The latter part of that is true. The masses do not form many of their own opinions but these opinions are not given to them, like Tocqueville says, by the majority. These "ready made opinions" (Tocqueville 11) are given to American people by a powerful few. Tocquville's writing does not apply to the US today because several kinds of minorities wield inordinate amounts of power in modern American society.

The media is the main source of information for America today. Tocquevill

The President of the United States is the single most powerful person in America. "A president can cause immeasurable harm (or good) purely on his own authority"(Alterman 12). Today is a very important time concerning the future of the Presidency and our country. The elections are coming up. The only two candidates who really have a chance of being our next President are Al Gore and George W. Bush. Both of these are wealthy, white, Christian family men. Political and economic power is in the hands of a few, like Gore and Bush. These candidates along with their corporate backers represent such a small number of people in our country that it constitutes minority rule.

Tocqueville was not wrong when he talked about the ideal of a democratic society working in America

Some common words found in the essay are:
America Alexis, America Tocqueville, Religious American, President United, Jerry Falwell, Gore Bush, Reform Party, George Bush, american people, opinions masses, ideal democratic society, ideal democratic, ideas opinions, minority rule, opinions tocqueville, democratic society,
Approximate Word count = 519
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)