On the record
But suppose the mass of the people are not able to elect--and this is the case with the numerical majority of all but the rarest nations--how is a Cabinet government to be then possible?
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Walter Bagehot
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gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “But suppose the mass of the people are not able to elect--and this is the case with the numerical majority of all but…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot questions the feasibility of cabinet government in nations where the majority lacks the ability to elect leaders.
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More from Walter Bagehot
I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.
At last it strikes you that they grew up, house by house, on the devious tracks of the old green lanes; and if you follow on to the existing fields, you may often find the change half complete.
Our law very often reminds one of those outskirts of cities where you cannot for a long time tell how the streets come to wind about in so capricious and serpent-like a manner.
Just so the lines of our Constitution were framed in old eras of sparse population, few wants, and simple habits; and we adhere in seeming to their shape, though civilisation has come with its dangers, complications, and enjoyments.
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