Democracy

Democracy

Thomas Allen

In The United States Unmasked: A Search into the Causes of the Rise and Progress of These States, and an Exposure Of Their Present Material and Moral Condition (London, Ontario: J. H. Vivian, 1878), pages 131–132, 134, G. Manigault gives an accurate description of democracy. His description not only depicts the democracy of his day but also describes the democracy of today. His description follows:

But the ultimate control of government and of its officials is not now in the hands of those who have a direct and obvious interest in the economical, honest, and unperverted exercise of its powers. That class has but a very small voice in the matter, and no power to protect themselves or other people, except by bribing the multitude of needy and mercenary voters, and paying exorbitantly for their votes.

By the theory of the government, in the States and in the United States, all power is in the hands of the majority of voters on the basis of universal manhood suffrage; and nothing but some forms of an effete political organization, termed the “Constitution of the United States” stand between the sovereign majority and their absolute despotism. The minority are nothing. This sovereign majority consists chiefly of men who have no direct and obvious interest in the honest and economical administration of the powers of government. So far from its burdens apparently falling on them, they feel a direct and obvious interest in its expenditures being not only liberal but extravagant. It is their aim that it should multiply offices, undertake great public works, give out great contracts, embark in every kind of undertaking, assume every duty that can be forced into the sphere of government operations, to swell its patronage and multiply the paid dependants on its bounty. It is their government, and ought to be their servant, bound to do their work in securing to them prosperity in the shape of good employment at high wages at least, if not a fat office, or a profitable contract.

The vast majority of this sovereign people derive all their political notions from the harangues of the demagogues of the platform and the press, men seeking their favour and vote for office, or their support to some measure in which the orator has a direct but unseen interest. The vast majority of the sovereign people have most confused and false notions as to what the best and most powerful government can do, and cannot do for those who live under it. In commenting on the conduct of public affairs there are many unwelcome facts to be dealt with, many unpleasant truths to be told. But the telling of unpleasant truths is not the way to win the mass of voters. Those public men whose good sense, foresight and honesty lead them to raise a warning voice and utter unwelcome truth, to point out obstacles that obstruct the people’s wishes, or evil consequences that will follow their wilful course — these men, one after another are dropped out of public life. The more adroit courtiers of the people, those “flattering prophets who prophesy smooth things, prophesy deceits;” who pander to every passion, prejudice, and animosity, and every extravagant and groundless hope — nay the very jesters and buffoons that divert the crowd, become the chosen counsellors of the mob; and the mob is king.

The lower the stratum of population on which you lay the foundation of political power, the more mixed the ingredients of that stratum in race and character, the more completely you throw the government into the hands of demagogues, and the more unscrupulous these demagogues become.

This description fits today’s governments of the States and the United States. Only, today’s governments are far worse because they have had almost 150 years to develop further. During the Jacksonian era, White male suffrage became almost universal. Following Lincoln's War, the franchise was extended to Black males. Next, women gained the right to vote. Finally, a person was no longer required to pay taxes to vote, and the age for voting was lowered to 18. With each expansion of the franchise, governments grew and liberty shrank.

Continuing, Manigault notes that democracy prevents the best people from holding office. Except for Tyler, Cleveland, and Coolidge, nearly every US president since Monroe has been mediocre, roguish, or demagogic. The same is true of most US Senators and Representatives and most State officeholders. He writes:

It has already come to this, that the sovereign popular majority can never again be represented by any considerable number of decent and honest men. Men who respect truth, fair dealing, and themselves, cannot go through the training necessary to secure the favour and support of the local constituency of a section of this sovereign mob. And he, who has successfully gone through that training, is not fit to be trusted by any honest man, or in any honest transaction. The direct effect of this basis of government is to fill all offices with the most artful and unscrupulous demagogues. It is only by a rare combination of chances, or by the influence of very great abilities that an honest man can get into a post of importance; and then he is quite out of countenance, on looking into the faces of his brother officials around him.

Copyright © 2025 by Thomas Coley Allen.

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