Tocqueville uses this term to refer to the social and political system that preceded democracy, when monarchies governed with assistance from nobles who were vested with political and social clout due to their wealth and land ownership. In their introduction to Democracy in America, Mansfield and Winthrop note that Tocqueville was a frequent reader of French political philosopher Montesquieu, who presents aristocracy as rule by “a part of the people.” (Carrithers, David W. “Aristocracy, a Montesquieu Dictionary.” http://dictionnaire-montesquieu.ens-lyon.fr/en/article/1377614761/en/) As Mansfield and Winthrop argue in their introduction, “Tocqueville always understands democracy in contrast to aristocracy. He constantly compares them not merely as forms of government in a narrow sense but as opposed ways of life.” (Mansfield, Harvey, and Delba Winthhrop. “Editor’s Introduction” in de Tocqueville, Alexis, Democracy in America. University of Chicago Press, 2012.)

While this term is commonly used throughout his work, Tocqueville does not provide a coherent definition. Broadly speaking, class is the social and economic position people occupy as a result of their occupation and accumulated wealth or lack thereof. Some historians and theorists conceive of class in material terms and in labor relationships, especially those influenced by the work of Karl Marx. Tocqueville conceives of class identity in these terms but is also attentive to how individuals adopt particular cultural practices in response to their class position—this is particularly clear in his discussion of honor, which he argues has mostly disappeared as aristocracy has.