Whither the Contented? Tocqueville and the Fate of the Unambitious in Democratic Times

Abstract

Historically, ambition has been considered a vice, if not a crime. Through an invocation of Alexis de Tocqueville’s reflections on “democratic ambition” this paper argues that the modern age has not only done away with this disapprobation, a particular sort of ambition is not only permitted, it is demanded. The paper thus asks two central questions: 1) how can we understand ambition in the democratic age and 2) how should we think of those who do not cleave to the demands of democratic ambition—i.e., those who refuse to be eaten up by the incessant longing for material well-being? We make the argument in three parts, each part focusing on a different implication of the necessity of ambition in democratic times. First, we highlight the danger of ambition unrestrained. Second, we explore how Tocqueville thought the most egregious ramifications of democratic ambition will be ameliorated, namely by the effects of land, commerce, and community. And, third, we explore the fate of the contented—i.e., those who deviate from democracy’s requirements for ambition—both those who cling to aristocratic ambitions and those who are insufficiently ambitious for material improvement.