![]() ![]() ![]() ("To suppose that majority rule functions only in democracy is a fantastic illusion," as Jouvenel points out: "The king, who is but one solitary individual, stands far more in need of the general support of Society than any other form of government." Even the tyrant, the One who rules against all, needs helpers in the business of violence, though their number may be rather restricted.) However, the strength of opinion, that is, the power of the government, depends on numbers it is "in proportion to the number with which it is associated," and tyranny, as Montesquieu discovered, is therefore the most violent and least powerful of forms of government. This is what Madison meant when he said "all governments rest on opinion," a word no less true for the various forms of monarchy than for democracies. “All political institutions are manifestations and materializations of power they petrify and decay as soon as the living power of the people ceases to uphold them. ![]()
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