In 1831-32 a young Frenchman named Alexis de Tocqueville toured the United States, visiting 17 of the then 24 states, including New York. (Itinerary here.) Upon returning home, he wrote the influential book Democracy in America. "It has been claimed that Alexis de Tocqueville wrote the best book ever about democracy and the best book ever about America." (source) This book is still widely studied and quoted today.
On the subject of bureaucracy in New York, Tocqueville had this to say:
In some States (and that of New York has advanced most in this direction) traces of a centralized administration begin to be discernible.
Tocqueville thought that too much centralized administration was a grave danger to democracy:
...I am convinced that democratic nations are most exposed to fall beneath the yoke of a central administration...
That was in the 1830s. I wonder what he would think today. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
To read the above passages in context, go here. The first passage is on p. 69 and the second is on p. 83.
