---

Título: SOME THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC LIFE
Autor: GREY, EDWARD
Año: 1923
Género: BIOGRAFÍAS Y MEMORIAS
Formato: PDF

One of the things to beware of in democratic representative government is reliance upon formulas which may not be based on sound premisses. There is no more pleasing formula than that of “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” In Abraham Lincoln's great speech it had a magnificent place. But it is well not to use that formula too confidently. It presupposes that the people are both willing and capable of governing. If they are not willing and capable of governing, the formula has no value. In the same way, consider “government by public opinion” as a formula. Public opinion –that highest tribunal with which I have heard leaders of opposition threaten governments in the House of Commons. 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 of democratic government are due to the fact that public opinion is not necessarily a great statesman at all.

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, KG, PC, DL, FZS (25 April 1862 – 07 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War.

---