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What the public does is not to express its opinions but to align itself for or against a proposal. If read more
What the public does is not to express its opinions but to align itself for or against a proposal. If that theory is accepted, we must abandon the notion that democratic government can be the direct expression of the will of the people. We must abandon the notion that the people govern. Instead we must adopt the theory that, by their occasional mobilizations as a majority, people support or oppose the individuals who actually govern. We must say that the popular will does not direct continuously but that it intervenes occasionally.
Of government, at least in democratic states, it may be said briefly that it is an agency engaged wholesale, and read more
Of government, at least in democratic states, it may be said briefly that it is an agency engaged wholesale, and as a matter of solemn duty, in the performance of acts which all self-respecting individuals refrain from as a matter of common decency.
When people revolt in a totalitarian society, they rise not against the wickedness of the regime but its weakness.
When people revolt in a totalitarian society, they rise not against the wickedness of the regime but its weakness.
Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with bloodshed.
Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with bloodshed.
Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.
Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.
Political history is largely an account of mass violence and of the expenditure of vast resources to cope with mythical read more
Political history is largely an account of mass violence and of the expenditure of vast resources to cope with mythical fears and hopes.
Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.
Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.
All I ask is equal freedom. When it is denied, as it always is, I take it anyhow.
All I ask is equal freedom. When it is denied, as it always is, I take it anyhow.
That government is best which governs least.
That government is best which governs least.
