Which author analyzed American democracy and predicted that democracy would replace aristocratic rule in Europe?

• A. Voltaire
• B. Alexis de Tocqueville
• C. Montesquieu
• D. John Locke

Answer: (B)

Alexis de Tocqueville studied American democracy firsthand and used those observations to imagine how democratic ideas could reshape Europe. In Democracy in America, he shows how equality and participation in local life sustain liberty, and he argues that the American experience could serve as a model that gradually erodes aristocratic rule on the continent. His analysis highlights the potential for European societies to transition toward democracy as civic institutions, associations, and the diffusion of political power curtail old hierarchies. While Voltaire, Montesquieu, and John Locke each shaped liberal thought in important ways, they did not forecast this specific cross-Atlantic transformation in Europe as clearly or directly as Tocqueville did.