“They (the emperors) frequently abused their power arbitrarily to deprive their subjects of property or of life: their tyranny was extremely onerous to the few, but it did not reach the greater number;.. But it would seem that if despotism were to be established amongst the democratic nations of our days it might assume a different character; it would be more extensive and more mild, it would degrade men without tormenting them.”

— Alexis De Tocqueville , book Democracy in America

Book Four, Chapter VI.
Democracy in America, Volume II (1840), Book Four

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Alexis De Tocqueville 135

French political thinker and historian 1805–1859

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