托克维尔在《旧制度与大革命》一书中系统的论述了法国大革命中中央集权吊诡的运作逻辑,平等没有与自由结合反而成就了新的专制。没有“民情”作为基础,民主社会建设的条件是残缺不全的。民主作为手段与目的的统一体,其生成要依靠相互的信任,共同的生活模式培养,“民情”的完善和观念与制度在现实中妥善设置,只有满足这些条件才能为民主社会建设保驾护航。 Tocqueville systematically discussed the logic of the paradox of centralization of power during the French Revolution in his book Old Systems and the Great Revolution. Equality did not combine with freedom, but instead created new autocracy. Without “public sentiment ” as a basis, the conditions for building a democratic society are incomplete. As a unity of means and ends, democracy should be built on the basis of mutual trust and cultivation of a common life style. The improvement of “public sentiment” and the establishment of concepts and institutions are properly set up in reality. Only by satisfying these conditions can we build a guarantee for a democratic society convoy.