Evenwhentherelianceofademocraticpeoplehasbeenwon，itisstillnoeasymattertogaintheirattention。Itisextremelydifficulttoobtainahearingfrommenlivingindemocracies，unlessitbetospeaktothemofthemselves。Theydonotattendtothethingssaidtothem，becausetheyarealwaysfullyengrossedwiththethingstheyaredoing。Forindeedfewmenareidleindemocraticnations;lifeispassedinthemidstofnoiseandexcitement，andmenaresoengagedinactingthatlittleremainstothemforthinking。Iwouldespeciallyremarkthattheyarenotonlyemployed，butthattheyarepassionatelydevotedtotheiremployments。Theyarealwaysinaction，andeachoftheiractionsabsorbstheirfaculties:thezealwhichtheydisplayinbusinessputsouttheenthusiasmtheymightotherwiseentertainforidea。Ithinkthatitisextremelydifficulttoexcitetheenthusiasmofademocraticpeopleforanytheorywhichhasnotapalpable，direct，andimmediateconnectionwiththedailyoccupationsoflife:thereforetheywillnoteasilyforsaketheiroldopinions;foritisenthusiasmwhichflingsthemindsofmenoutofthebeatentrack，andeffectsthegreatrevolutionsoftheintellectaswellasthegreatrevolutionsofthepoliticalworld。Thusdemocraticnationshaveneithertimenortastetogoinsearchofnovelopinions。Evenwhenthosetheypossessbecomedoubtful，theystillretainthem，becauseitwouldtaketoomuchtimeandinquirytochangethem—
theyretainthem，notascertain，butasestablished。
Thereareyetotherandmorecogentreasonswhichpreventanygreatchangefrombeingeasilyeffectedintheprinciplesofademocraticpeople。Ihavealreadyadvertedtothematthecommencementofthispartofmywork。Iftheinfluenceofindividualsisweakandhardlyperceptibleamongstsuchapeople，thepowerexercisedbythemassuponthemindofeachindividualisextremelygreat—Ihavealreadyshownforwhatreasons。I
wouldnowobservethatitiswrongtosupposethatthisdependssolelyupontheformofgovernment，andthatthemajoritywouldloseitsintellectualsupremacyifitweretoloseitspoliticalpower。Inaristocraciesmenhaveoftenmuchgreatnessandstrengthoftheirown:whentheyfindthemselvesatvariancewiththegreaternumberoftheirfellow—countrymen，theywithdrawtotheirowncircle，wheretheysupportandconsolethemselves。
Suchisnotthecaseinademocraticcountry;therepublicfavorseemsasnecessaryastheairwebreathe，andtoliveatvariancewiththemultitudeis，asitwere，nottolive。Themultituderequiresnolawstocoercethosewhothinknotlikeitself: