Abstract Nouns

This post has little to do with deTocqueville. However, it was in reading Democracy in America that I was reminded of my disdain for the in-concision of abstract nouns. The two main culprits here: religion and democracy. There are a plethora of definitions of both, so before any real discussion relating to them must begin by determining the meaning intended by the author. Maybe my real qualm here is not with Alexis, but the English language itself. Maybe in deToucqueville's French his intentions are much more clear. Maybe it was just lost in translation...