Question

"The emigrants who colonized the shores of America in the beginning of the seventeenth century somehow separated the democratic principle from all the principles that it had to contend with in the old communities of Europe, and transplanted it alone to the New World. It has there been able to spread in perfect freedom and peaceably to determine the character of the laws by influencing the manners of the country. It appears to me beyond a doubt that, sooner or later, we shall arrive, like the Americans, at an almost complete equality of condition."

- excerpt from the "Introduction" in Democracy in America, Alexis-de-Tocqueville (1835)

What democratic idea is best supported by this excerpt?
Responses

A libertyliberty

B justicejustice

C equal opportunityequal opportunity

D freedom of expression

Answer 1

C — equal opportunity

Tocqueville explicitly predicts an "almost complete equality of condition" and describes democratic equality shaping laws and social manners, which supports the democratic idea of equality/equal opportunity rather than liberty, justice, or freedom of expression.