ssue of the struggle. But this sentence, which it
is so easy to pronounce, is not the less fatally severe to the majority
of those upon whom it is inflicted. Great criminals may undoubtedly
brave its intangible rigor, but ordinary offenders will dread it as a
condemnation which destroys their position in the world, casts a blight
upon their honor, and condemns them to a shameful inactivity worse than
death. The influence exercised in the United States upon the progress
of society by the jurisdiction of political bodies may not appear to be
formidable, but it is only the more immense. It does not directly coerce
the subject, but it renders the majority more absolute over those in
power; it does not confer an unbounded authority on the legislator which
can be exerted at some momentous crisis, but it establishes a temperate
and regular influence, which is at all times available. If the power is
decreased, it can, on the other hand, be more conveniently employed and
more easily abused. By preventing political tribunals from inflicting
judicial punishments the Americans seem to have eluded the worst
consequences of legislative tyranny, rather than tyranny itself; and
I am not sure that political jurisdiction, as it is constituted in the
United States, is not the most formidable weapon which has ever been
placed in the rude grasp of a popular majority. When the American
republics begin to degenerate it will be easy to verify the truth
of this observation, by remarking whether the number of political
impeachments augments.*d

[Footnote b: Chap. I. sect. ii. Section 8.]

[Footnote c: See the constitutions of Illinois, Maine, Connecticut, and
Georgia.]

[Footnote d: See Appendix, N.

[The impeachment of President Andrew Johnson in 1868--which was resorted
to by his political opponents solely as a means of turning him out of
office, for it could not be contended that he had been guilty of high
crimes and misdemeanors, and he was in fact honorably acquitted and
reinstated in office--is a striking confirmation of the truth of this
remark.--Translator's Note, 1874.]]

Chapter VIII: The Federal Constitution--Part I

I have hitherto considered each State as a separate whole, and I have
explained the different springs which the people sets in motion, and the
different means of action which it employs. But all the States which I
have considered as independent are forced to submit, in certain cases,
to the supreme authority