Democracy

Democracy is liberty without restraint, and its natural end is tyranny.

Democracy is rule of the many in their own interest: deviant in principle, workable in practice when mixed.

The best regime is mixed: monarchy tempered by aristocratic and democratic elements, with laws made by or for the people.

Sovereignty must be absolute and undivided; democracy is legitimate only where it is obeyed as one will.

Legitimate government rests on consent, and the majority's power is limited by natural rights.

Democracy requires virtue as its principle, and separation of powers as its safeguard.

Sovereignty belongs to the people and cannot be represented; the general will is the only legitimate authority.

The extended republic cures the diseases of popular government; scale and representation check faction.

Democracy is an irresistible social condition; its greatest danger is a soft despotism of the majority.

Representative government is the best regime, provided individuality is protected against the tyranny of the majority.

Liberal democracy is bourgeois class rule; true democracy requires abolishing the economic conditions that produce inequality.