Soft tyranny

Soft tyranny is an idea first developed by Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 work titled Democracy in America.^[1] It is described as the individualist preference for equality and its pleasures, requiring the state – as a tyrant majority or a benevolent authority – to step in and adjudicate.^[2] In this regime, political leaders operate under a blanket of restrictions and, while it retains the practical virtues of democracy, citizens influence policymaking through bureaucrats and non-governmental organizations.^[3] This is distinguished from despotism or tyranny (hard tyranny) in the sense that state of government in such democratic society is composed of guardians who hold immense and tutelary (protective) power.^[4]

^ Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (New York: Bantam Books, 2000), 9–15.
^ Runions, Erin (2014). The Babylon Complex: Theopolitical Fantasies of War, Sex, and Sovereignty. New York: Fordham University Press. p. 71. ISBN 9780823257348.
^ Singer, Max (2011). History of the Future: The Shape of the World to Come Is Visible Today. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. p. 66. ISBN 9780739164860.
^ McClay, Wilfred (1994). The Masterless: Self & Society in Modern America. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 235. ISBN 0807821179.

[Tocqueville-1] Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (New York: Bantam Books, 2000), 9–15.

[2] Runions, Erin (2014). The Babylon Complex: Theopolitical Fantasies of War, Sex, and Sovereignty. New York: Fordham University Press. p. 71. ISBN 9780823257348.

[:0-3] Singer, Max (2011). History of the Future: The Shape of the World to Come Is Visible Today. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. p. 66. ISBN 9780739164860.

[4] McClay, Wilfred (1994). The Masterless: Self & Society in Modern America. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 235. ISBN 0807821179.

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