Democracy in America

De Tocqueville, in his incisive political treatise Democracy in America, attributed many of the features of the American polity to the general equality of conditions pervading in society. Because most of the citizens were neither extremely rich nor destitute, they easily formed associations, believed strongly in majority rule, and had relatively uniform views on politics. America may be prone to the dangers of the tyranny of the majority, and the lack of refined aristocratic taste, but the spontaneous formation of groups and the individualistic focus on economic welfare prevented politics from becoming the winner take all, life and death struggle that characterized class-ridden European polities. America just suffered the worst recession since the Great Depression, but it remains the single most powerful and most important nation on earth despite the imminent rise of China.

Through the obverse logic, much of Tocqueville’s analysis may be relevant to Philippine politics and similar countries characterized by high inequality of conditions. A small group of wealthy families continue to dominate politics and economics. Patron-client ties remain the typical relationship between the elites and the masses although the mass media now mediates this as attested by the rise of celebrities in politics. All of this makes the spontaneous formation of associations unlikely, much less the creation of stable political parties, which almost guarantees that elections are won by those with money and fame instead of those with the best party programs. Such is the state of Oligarchy in the Philippines in the 21st century.