De Tocqueville was a French aristocrat and liberal politician between the years 1805-1859.He saw the benefits that can come about if people were to associate freely.After he visited the U.S.A in 1835, he identified one of the unique aspects of the American society of that time.He recognized the part played by voluntary private associations in the organization of economic, social and political affairs.He thought that people had to associate freely right and that the art of association was the mother of science.Examples of associations are; National Education Association, National organizations for women, American Dairy Association only to mention a few.In as much as he identified the role of the associations in U.S. A, he felt that he had an obligation to reassure his readers that free political associations were not dangerous to the state in the long term.He concluded that the liberty of associations strengthens the nation.
The number of associations has grown tremendously in the U.S. A.The ASAE which is the abbreviation for the American Society for Association Executives; the associations of associations has indicated that there were about 92,000 professional and trade associations by 2010. Most Americans are familiar with large organizations and understand that those associations harness enough political power to influence essential issues in the country.The existence of this association proves just how pervasive and deeply-embedded the associations have become.Tocqueville observed that Americans of all ages continuously form associations.Creepy enough, is that the associations have spread into the art of collecting – a hobby that was taken up by the most cavalier and solitary of all Americans.Most associations have hundreds to thousands of members from every state of the union as well as foreign nations. Apart from the numbers, it should be noted that the most important fact is that these associations operate with a lot of zeal.
An association of interest in this paper is the Women’s organizations in the U.S.A that were first formed in the 1960s and inspired many middle-class white women to create organized movements. Some of these organizations are American Medical Women’s Association, League of Women Voters of the United States, American Association of University women among others. They were motivated by their lack of power and voice in major decisions. Unlike other movements that dominated in the 19th century, women’s organizations of the 1960s touched on every area of women’s life experiences such as sexuality family and work. In recent years, their purpose has been to take action through intersectoral grassroots activism to promote feminists ideas, eliminate discrimination and to protect the rights of women and girls in all aspects of life.In his story on Democracy in America, Tocqueville warns the most significant threat that America is afacing is the tyranny of the majority.The tyranny of the majority is a situation where the majority of an electorate place its interest above at the expense of the minority.The women being the minority, in this case, the associations help the voices of the American women be heard against the tyranny of the majority.Through the associations, the women can address their issues, grievances, and ideas as a group, therefore, increasing their chances of being heard, i.e. collective voice.By raising their voices collectively, the decisions of the majority get threatened therefore opening room for adjustments.Most scholars would argue that the civilization of any nation is measured by how it treats its minorities
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