In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme. It is also in the interests of a tyrant to keep his people poor, so that they may not be able to afford the cost of protecting themselves by arms and be so occupied with their daily tasks that they have no time for rebellion.
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For tyranny is a kind of monarchy which has in view the interest of the monarch only; oligarchy has in view the interest of the wealthy; democracy of the needy: none of them common good of all.
He who is a citizen in a democracy will often not be a citizen in an oligarchy.
The problem of finding a collection of wise men and leaving the government to them is thus an insoluble one. That is the ultimate reason for democracy.
The danger is one which democracy by itself does not suffice to avert. A democracy in which the majority exercises its power without restraint may be almost as tyrannical as a dictatorship. Toleration of minorities is an essential part of wise democracy, but a part which is not always sufficiently remembered.
When the qualities that now confer leadership have become universal, there will no longer be leaders and followers, and democracy will have been realized at last.
Russell observes that “the merits of democracy are negative: it does not ensure good government, but it prevents certain evils,” such as the evil of a small group of individuals achieving a secure monopoly on political power. The chief peril for the politician, Russell insists, is love of power. And politicians can easily yield to the love of power on the pretense that they are pursuing some absolute good.
It is not growing fanaticism, but growing democracy, that causes my troubles. Did you ever read the life of Averroes? He was protected by kings, but hated by the mob, which was fanatical. In the end, the mob won. Free thought has always been a perquisite of aristocracy.
A fanatical belief in democracy makes democratic institutions impossible.
One obvious palliative of the evils of democracy in its present form would be to encourage much more publicity and initiative on the part of civil servants. They ought to have the right, and, on occasion, the duty, to frame bills in their own names, and set forth publicly the arguments in their favor.
