Volume II, Book IV, Chapter VI: What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear
Alexis de Tocqueville
Tocqueville's fear was not hypothetical. In the wake of the French Revolution, Europe saw radical shifts that left many wary of change, associating it with chaos and violence. In America, Tocqueville observed an opposite tension: the risk that prosperity and stability might breed complacency. His concern was that fear could paralyze progress, creating a society resistant to essential reform. Stability, if not carefully balanced, could calcify into stagnation.