Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America is considered today to be perhaps the most profound analysis of American society ever written. Far more than a "political commentary", this classic focuses upon the "manners and mores' — the customs — at the very foundation of the political culture of the United States. Two major themes, both of which originate from Tocqueville's focus upon the far-ranging differences between "aristocratic and democratic nations' and the ways in which the "equality of conditions' widely influences American society, stand at the centre of his analysis: a concern regarding a potential danger of a "tyranny of the majority" and an emphasis upon the necessity of widespread civil associations if democracy is to remain stable.