Description
The essay must choose a particular idea from the above thinker, cogently summarize that idea, and "apply" it by providing a judicious illustration.
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Explanation & Answer
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Running head: ALEXIS TOCQUEVILLE’S IDEAS ON FREEDOM OF PRESS
Alexis Tocqueville’s Ideas on Freedom of Press
Institution Affiliation
Date
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ALEXIS TOCQUEVILLE’S IDEAS ON FREEDOM OF PRESS
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Introduction
The freedom of the media within any nation is the ability of the media to operate freely
with no interruption. The press is mandated to report on the political activities of a country.
Tocqueville’s thoughts on the freedom of the press are based on his findings while on tour in
America. While there, he observed the role of the press in the democratic western nation. He
analyzed the effects of a free press on the political and social wellbeing of a state. His thoughts
on press freedom were variant, but conclusively, he identified that a free press was integral to the
preservation of peace and liberty in a nation.
Summary of Tocqueville’s views on Freedom of press
Alexis Tocqueville had visited America and made his own studies on different aspects of
the democratic nation. Notably, he had opinions on freedom of the press in the country and its
effect on politics (Tocqueville, Mayer, & Sandage, 2007). In Democracy in America,
Tocqueville notes that despite the evils of a free press on some occasions, in sovereign American
society, the media is a constitutive element of democracy. Additionally, it significantly
contributes to the upholding of public harmony. Tocqueville assumed that freedom of speech and
the press could bring about political evils. This is contrary to what we experience and believe in
widely today. Freedom of the media is presumed to be the outcome of a democratic nation.
Alexis argues that the freedom of the press is neither disruptive nor powerful in determining
public opinion. In America, the free media, as he concludes, is far less powerful and influential
than the press in undemocratic aristocra...