“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.” - Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville never said any such thing.
It also happens to be untrue, or at least unproven.
Unless you’d care to list the world’s “great civilizations” and their length of existence and show why the 200 year period is accurate.
The quote is a pastiche of two different quotes that have been floating around on the interwebs for a long time. Neither by Tocqueville.
http://www.lorencollins.net/tytler.html