by Matthew Bransgrove | Sep 16, 2015 | Democracy
The unprincipled Before men are put forward into the great trusts of the State, they ought by their conduct to have obtained such a degree of estimation in their country, as may be some sort of pledge and security to the public, that they will not abuse those trusts....
by Matthew Bransgrove | Sep 16, 2015 | Democracy
On a memorable occasion the assembled Athenians declared it monstrous that they should be prevented from doing whatever they chose. No force that existed could restrain them; and they resolved that no duty should restrain them, and that they would be bound by no laws...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Sep 16, 2015 | Democracy
When the people, who have no property, feel the power in their own hands to determine all questions by a majority, they ever attack those who have property, till the injured men of property lose all patience, and recur to finesse, trick, and stratagem, to outwit those...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Sep 16, 2015 | Democracy
When an electorate repeatedly votes for socialist governments until they default on their public debt, their financial affairs must be taken over by a trustee in bankruptcy. This occurred in the 1930s when the Dominion of Newfoundland ran up debts of around $100...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Sep 16, 2015 | Democracy
But a democratic system of government cannot be transferred to other nations simply by setting up imitations of our institutions—we have realized this all too clearly in recent times. For democracy to work, it requires what Montesquieu described as a special quality...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Sep 16, 2015 | Democracy
It is in its dynamic, rather than in its static, aspects that the value of democracy proves itself. As is true of liberty, the benefits of democracy will show themselves only in the long run, while its more immediate achievements may well be inferior to those of other...
