How did Alexis de Tocqueville connect individualism with centralization?

Alexis de Tocqueville connected individualism with centralization by observing how the former creates a social vacuum that the latter inevitably fills. In his work Democracy in America, he defined individualism as a "moderate selfishness" that leads citizens to isolate themselves from their fellows, focusing exclusively on their own small circles of family and friends.1

By withdrawing from public life, individuals neglect the civic virtue and associations necessary to maintain a free society. Tocqueville argued that this social apathy and the resulting decline in communal attachment leave citizens vulnerable to the growth of state power. As individuals become increasingly isolated and politically passive, they become more willing to acquiesce to rising paternalism and state intervention in their affairs. Ultimately, Tocqueville warned that this combination of democratic individualism and administrative centralization fosters a "mild, stagnant despotism," which he considered the greatest threat to the survival of liberty in a democratic order.12