《论美国的民主·卷一·第十五章下·多数暴政对思想的压迫》第10节
The Greatest Dangers Of The American Republics Proceed From The Unlimited Power Of The Majority Governments usually fall a sacrifice to impotence or to tyranny. In the former case their power escapes from them; it is wrested from their grasp in the latter. Many observers, who have witnessed the anarchy of democratic States, have imagined that the government of those States was naturally weak and impotent. The truth is, that when once hostilities are begun between parties, the government loses its control over society. But I do not think that a democratic power is naturally without force or without resources: say, rather, that it is almost always by the abuse of its force and the misemployment of its resources that a democratic government fails. Anarchy is almost always produced by its tyranny or its mistakes, but not by its want of strength. It is important not to confound stability with force, or the greatness of a thing with its duration. In democratic republics, the power which directs society is not stable; for it often changes hands and assumes a new direction. But whichever way it turns, its force is almost irresistible. The Governments of the American republics appear to me to be as much centralized as those of the absolute monarchies of Europe, and more energetic than they are. I do not, therefore, imagine that they will perish from weakness. If ever the free institutions of America are destroyed, that event may be attributed to the unlimited authority of the majority, which may at some future time urge the minorities to desperation, and oblige them to have recourse to physical force. Anarchy will then be the result, but it will have been brought about by despotism.
注释摘要
这一节是托克维尔对多数权力所做诊断的集中收束。他把政府衰亡的两种经典路径摆出来：无力与暴政——前者是权力悄悄溜走，后者是权力被人夺走。欧洲观察者常见到民主国家的混乱与无序，便匆匆得出一个结论，说民主政府天性软弱、缺乏力量。托克维尔不这么看。他认为，当一个社会被党派敌意撕裂时，政府的确会失去对社会的掌控，但这不是因为它本身没有力量，而恰恰是因为它一直在滥用力…