On the record
That title is nothing more nor less than votes given in secret (by secret ballot), by not more than one-fifth of the whole population.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “That title is nothing more nor less than votes given in secret (by secret ballot), by not more than one-fifth of the…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner critiques the secret ballot as a means of legitimizing government authority by a small fraction of the population.
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In that case the trial is really a trial by the government, and not by the jury.
From the sale of that justice which every citizen has a right to demand, it was an easy transition to withhold or deny it.
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The answer is, that they are as reliable for that purpose as are the majority; they are as much presumed to have associated, and are as likely to have associated, for that object, as are the majority; and they have as much interest in such…