Thin vs. Living Democracy

Frances Moore Lappe's description of a 'Thin Democracy' reminded me of Alexis de Tocqueville's warnings in his 1835 book, Democracy in America, that democracy, when not vigilantly attended to can turn into 'soft despotism.' Furthermore, that conformity to the majority and complacency among its citizens can lead to the downfall of a democracy. How incredible, that hundreds of years later, we're still writing about the same problems in America! What I found most interesting about these worries is that they could easily be found in literature from the fringes of either political party-- ironically, those most opposed to each other are essentially afraid of the same thing.