“_The Voice of the People has been said to be the voice of God: and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact._”—Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 1787, at the Federal Convention (Yates’s notes, cited _Sources and Documents Illustrating the American Revolution_, edited by S. G. Morison). “... _consider ‘Government by Public Opinion’ as a formula.... It is an admirable formula: but it presupposes, not only that public opinion exists, but that on any particular question there is a public opinion ready to decide the issue. Indeed, it presupposes that the supreme statesman in democratic government is public opinion. Many of the shortcomings o…
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