《论美国的民主·卷一·第五章·新英格兰的乡镇自治》第6节
I have already observed that the principle of the sovereignty of the people governs the whole political system of the Anglo-Americans. Every page of this book will afford new instances of the same doctrine. In the nations by which the sovereignty of the people is recognized every individual possesses an equal share of power, and participates alike in the government of the State. Every individual is, therefore, supposed to be as well informed, as virtuous, and as strong as any of his fellow-citizens. He obeys the government, not because he is inferior to the authorities which conduct it, or that he is less capable than his neighbor of governing himself, but because he acknowledges the utility of an association with his fellow-men, and because he knows that no such association can exist without a regulating force. If he be a subject in all that concerns the mutual relations of citizens, he is free and responsible to God alone for all that concerns himself. Hence arises the maxim that every one is the best and the sole judge of his own private interest, and that society has no right to control a man’s actions, unless they are prejudicial to the common weal, or unless the common weal demands his co-operation. This doctrine is universally admitted in the United States. I shall hereafter examine the general influence which it exercises on the ordinary actions of life; I am now speaking of the nature of municipal bodies. The township, taken as a whole, and in relation to the government of the country, may be looked upon as an individual to whom the theory I have just alluded to is applied. Municipal independence is therefore a natural consequence of the principle of the sovereignty of the people in the United States: all the American republics recognize it more or less; but circumstances have peculiarly favored its growth in New England.
注释摘要
托克维尔在这一段里完成了一个非常重要的推理：他把人民主权原则从个人层面直接推到了乡镇集体的层面，以此论证市镇独立的自然正当性。这一段之所以值得细看，是因为他没有把乡镇自治仅仅当作一种行政上的便利安排，而是试图从政治哲学的第一原理出发，为它找根子。 他的论证链条是这样的。人民主权原则一旦被接受，就意味着每一个个体都被假定为拥有平等的权力份额，是与任何一位同胞…