http://www.amazon.com/Tocqueville-Democracy-America-Library/dp/1931082545/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219291795&sr=8-3

To show the difference a good translation can make, here are the same passages from Democracy in America as translated by Goldhammer:

“Democratic government encourages lawyers to assume political power. When the rich man, the noble, and the prince are excluded from government, lawyers step into the breach almost as if it were their right, for they are the only enlightened, able men not counted among the people whom the people may choose.

“If lawyers are naturally drawn by their tastes to the aristocracy and the prince, they are naturally drawn to the people by their interests.

“Thus lawyers favor democratic government without sharing its inclinations or imitating its weaknesses–two reasons why they enjoy power through it and over it.”

—

“One therefore finds, hidden in the depths of lawyers’ souls, some of the tastes and habits of aristocracy. The legal profession shares aristocracy’s instinctive preference for order and natural love of formalities, as well as its deep distaste for the actions of the multitude and secret contempt for popular government.

“I do not mean to say that these natural penchants of lawyers are strong enough to be irresistible. What rules lawyers as it rules other men is private interest, and above all the interest of the moment.

“The special knowledge that lawyers acquire through the study of law assures them of a distinctive rank in society. They constitute a kind of privileged class among the intelligent. The practice of their profession brings daily reminders of their superiority. They are masters of a body of knowledge that, while necessary, is not widely understood. They serve as arbiters among citizens, and the habit of guiding the blind passions of litigants toward a desired goal inspires in them a certain contempt for the judgment of the multitude.”