II

POPULAR GOVERNMENT

Popular Government Defined; Majority Rule. A government which receives its powers from the people is a democratic or popular government, and a state in which popular government prevails is a democracy. In the United States political power everywhere flows from the people. The President of the United States, the Congress, and the national Supreme Court, all receive their powers from the Constitution of the United States, and this Constitution is a creation of the people (1)1 of the United States; the government of a State 2 receives its powers from the people of the State; a city or a town or a county is governed by the people who reside within its borders. Thus in the United States the will of the people prevails not only in the country taken as a whole but in all its parts as well. This is the fundamental principle of the American government.

The people govern by a political device known as majority rule. When a question of government is to be decided, or when an officer of government is to be chosen, an orderly vote is taken and the will of the majority is regarded as the will of all. The majority rules and the minority submits to the will of the majority; this is a necessary and unavoidable feature of democratic government. The minority, right or wrong, must bow to the will of the majority. If the cause

1 The numbers in heavy-faced type refer to passages in the Constitution of the United States (Appendix A) which are distinguished by corresponding numbers on the margin.

In this treatise, when the word "state" begins with a capital letter one of the members of the American Union is meant.

of the minority, however, is just, it may be promoted, and in good time the minority may become a majority. A righteous and aggressive minority will not suffer permanent defeat.

The Growth of Democracy. The ancient Greeks discovered the principle of majority rule, and by the year 400 B.C. most of the Grecian states were enjoying popular government. But the democracies around the Mediterranean soon perished, some through their own faults, others as the victims of conquest. The principle of democracy, however, was active among the Teuton tribes which overran Western Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries. Wherever these Teutons settled, whether along the Rhine, or in France, or in England, they planted democratic institutions. They lived in villages, and every freeman of the village had a vote and a voice in the village meeting where public affairs were discussed, and where the policies of the little government were determined. This Teuton village is an interesting example of a primary or pure democracy,-a democracy in which the people govern directly and personally.

For several hundred years after the coming of the Teutons the democratic principle among the nations of Western Europe was strong. Especially was it strong among the Teutonic settlers in England, the Angles and Saxons. During the dark ages, however, feudalism gave popular government a severe blow. Under the feudal system society was organized upon the basis of landownership and upon personal relations growing out of the ownership of land. In the troublous times of the early medieval period it became the custom of the weak to "commend " themselves to the strong for protection. This commendation created a personal relation in which the protector was the lord and the protected the vassal. Since the large landholders were the most powerful it was they to whom commendation was usually made. The vassal, kneeling before his lord and placing his hands between the hands of his lord, would say: "I am your man,"

The lord, in return for the homage, promised the vassal patronage and protection. If the vassal had any land the lord took it as his own, the vassal henceforth holding as a tenant, the tenure depending upon the performance of certain services, most of which were of a personal nature.

Under the workings of the feudal system a few lords came to own practically all the land in a country. A great landlord would parcel out a tract of land to tenants, and these would parcel out to sub-tenants, and these, possibly, to subtenants still lower down the scale. Under this system land was everything, man was nothing; every man, except the highest lord, was another man's man.

Of course democracy, which is founded on the principle that one person never obeys another person, but always obeys a law, could not thrive under such conditions. It did not thrive, but it survived. It was kept alive in the cities and towns. In a city people can easily meet to talk over public affairs and, if necessary, can unite quickly to protect their interests and liberties. Cities have always been the nurseries of democracy. When, therefore, the feudal lords attempted to override the rights of the cities situated on their lands, the citizens resisted. They were accustomed to equal rights and self-government, and they prized these blessings too highly to give them up without a struggle. They joined with the king, who generally had a quarrel with the lords, and after a long contest overthrew feudalism, the greatest enemy democracy ever had.

The people had now to reckon with monarchy. With the lords crushed and out of the way the king took all the power of government into his own hands and ruled in his own interest. This was to be expected. Government by one means government for one. Government by nearly always means government for. The monarchs built up their power rapidly, and it was not long before the very existence of popular government was threatened.

The people of England were the first to resist the encroachments of the crown. By the close of the seventeenth cen

tury they had fought their battle and had won. On the Continent democracy slumbered for a hundred years longer. Then it awoke and asserted its terrible power. In France the people, who had become the servants of the government, revolted (1789) and tore up monarchy from its foundations. They beheaded the king, drove out the nobility, and established a government which was to be the servant of the people. The French Revolution was the first of a series of victories for democracy. From 1789 to the present time, in almost every country on the globe, the power of the people in matters of government has been increasing. Year by year the right to vote has been given to larger and still larger numbers of citizens, laws have become more and more favorable to popular needs and wishes, and governments themselves have become more and more democratic in spirit and form. We may safely say that the twentieth century opens with democracy triumphant in all the progressive nations of the earth.

Democracy in the United States. The above sketch shows that the principle of democracy is a persistent and indestructible force in human affairs. In America it was a powerful force even before the Revolution. In every colony large numbers of people participated in government, and when independence was declared it was declared in the name of the people. "The people" at the time of the Revolution meant but a small portion of the adult male population, but the proportion steadily grew, and by the year 1840 democracy in America meant that all white male adults had the right to vote. Thirty years later all black male adults also enjoyed this right. Democracy in the United States to-day means the rule of practically the whole body of grown men plus a portion of the grown women, about 16,000,000 persons, or one fifth of the total population.

Why Popular Government is the Best. What are the reasons which have urged the people to undertake the dangerous

and difficult task of governing themselves? There are three coercive reasons why popular government should be maintained:

(1) The people are the best guardians of their own. liberties and interests. Government by, let it be repeated, is government for. Government by a king will be conducted in the interest of the royal family; government by an aristocracy will be administered for the benefit of a small class; government by all will aim to promote the welfare and protect the rights of all.

(2) Democracy is best for the individual. Participation in government adds to the interest of life, sharpens the intellect, broadens the sympathies, cultivates a civic conscience, and thus enriches and elevates individual character.

(3) Popular government develops the highest type of patriotism. Citizens of a democracy always spring quickly to the defense of their government, for it is a work of their own hands. Subjects of monarchies, on the other hand, have been known to be driven into battle by the lash. Popular government has had its fullest development in Switzerland, and the Swiss are the most patriotic people in the world.

The Dangers of Popular Government. We are sometimes taught to regard democracy as something divine. We are told that the voice of the people is the voice of God. We should cherish the principle of democracy and resist every attempt to undermine it or sap its strength, but we need not regard it as a divine institution. It is simply one of the forms of government. It is that form in which the people rule by the device of voting and abiding by the will of the majority. That is all. Democracy is a human institution, and like all human institutions it is beset by dangers. Three of these dangers are inherent and must be pointed out:

(1) Indifference. It is extremely easy to forget and neglect civic duty. It is next to impossible to keep the attention fixed constantly upon public affairs. Yet the success of