BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAPTER XIV GENERAL FEATURES OF DEMOCRACY Definition. - Supposed evils of this form of government - ascendancy of the ignorant - of the crafty - inconstancy - rash confidence - groundless suspicion. - Merits and defects of democracy compared. - Its moral tendency. - Tendency of truth. - Representation. DEMOCRACY is a system of government according to which every member of society is considered as a man, and nothing more. So far as positive regulation is concerned, if indeed that can, with any propriety, be termed regulation, which is the mere recognition of the simplest of all moral principles, every man is regarded as equal. Talents and wealth, wherever they exist, will not fail to obtain a certain degree of influence, without requiring positive institution to second their operation. But there are certain disadvantages that may seem the necessary...