746 



DEMOCRACY 



longer consist merely of a body of burgesses 

 limited in number, but of millions of men inhabit- 

 ing extensive countries. A government on such a 

 basis is rendered possible through the representa- 

 tive system, by which the vast electorate choose a 

 convenient number of deputies, on whom the legis- 

 lative and other functions are conferred. Another 

 important point of difference is the abolition of 

 slavery, serfdom, and the other unfree conditions 

 which formerly prevailed. Freedom of conscience, 

 freedom in the choice of one's residence and pro- 

 fession, have been more or less fully realised. We 

 must also note the progress towards the abolition 

 of all privileged classes, and towards equality before 

 the law. 



The modern democracy, as we now see it, is the 

 result of a gradual process of development continued 

 through centuries amidst the severest struggles. 

 Such struggle will appear to be inevitable, when 

 we consider that democracies have grown up in 

 large states in which absolutism formerly prevailed, 

 and in which the military system prevails even yet. 

 Among the decisive steps in the modern struggle 

 of the people against the old classes and systems 

 should be noted the long contest of the Dutch 

 against Spain, the great English revolutions of 1642 

 arid 1688, the war of American Independence in 

 1776, the great French Revolution of 1789, and the 

 revolutionary periods of 1830 and 1848. The English 

 revolutions of 1642 and 1688 established parlia- 

 mentary rule in England, though on a narrow basis. 

 Yet they had the important result of proving the 

 fitness of a new type of government, which further 

 became a model for similar institutions in other 

 countries.^ The greatest event in the evolution of 

 democracy, however, was the PYench Revolution of 

 1789 ; though it failed for the time, it shook the old 

 system to its foundations ; it everywhere spread 

 new ideas, and raised questions that could not 

 again be set aside. The revolution of 1830 showed 

 that the reactionary conditions prevalent after 

 Waterloo had no claim to permanency. The 

 revolutionary movements of 1848, which affected 

 France, Italy, Austria, and Germany, were appar- 

 ently a failure, yet they overthrew what remained of 

 the Feudal system in western and central Europe. 

 But the most significant thing connected with that 

 period is the fact that only a few years afterwards 

 universal suffrage was introduced in all the coun- 

 tries where its influence had been felt. Govern- 

 ments which had been most active in suppressing 

 the revolution found it expedient to adopt its 

 cardinal principles. 



To England has been given the great historic 

 mission of working out the methods on which the 

 democracy has so far been realised. Her parlia- 

 ment, first constituted under Simon de Montfort 

 and Edward I. in the 13th century, was, as we have' 

 seen, firmly established by the long contest with the 

 Stuarts. After so many centuries of experience, 

 trial, and struggle, the English parliament has be- 

 come the mother of parliaments. England has not 

 been the first, however, to bring democratic institu- 

 tions to their full development. The Reform Bill of 

 1832 conferred the franchise on the middle classes ; 

 but it was not till the reforms of 1867 and 1885 that 

 she has approximated to universal suffrage. The 

 British government is now substantially a demo- 

 cracy, modified so far by older forms, the monarchy 

 and the House of Lords. In many countries which 

 have adopted parliamentary institutions, the power 

 of the people is much more seriously curtailed ; in 

 Germany, for example, by a sovereign 'claiming to 

 be of divine right. The German emperor may be 

 regarded as wielding a power co-ordinate Avith that 

 of the people, and resting on the army. The 

 position of his chancellor does not depend on a 

 parliamentary majority he is the servant of the 



emperor ; yet while not depending on a parlia- 

 mentary majority, he finds it expedient and even 

 necessary to have one. The government of the 

 United States, as also of the several states that 

 constitute the Union, is democratic. 



As we have seen, the distinctive features of the 

 modern democracy are the widest personal freedom, 

 by which each man has the liberty and responsi- 

 bility of shaping his own . career ; equality before 

 the law; and political power in the form of universal 

 suffrage, exercised through the representative 

 system. With these are associated universal educa- 

 tion, and on the continent of Europe universal 

 liability to military service. In Britain and the 

 United States universal liability to military service 

 exists also in theory as regards the militia. On 

 the European continent it is a momentous fact 

 imposed upon its peoples by the necessities of the 

 struggle for existence, which the moral develop- 

 ment of mankind has not yet been able so to regu- 

 late as to put an end to war. Anglo-Saxon coun- 

 tries are happily freer from such necessities. It is 

 an interesting fact, however, that Prussia, which 

 was the first great nation to adopt universal edu- 

 cation, was also the first to introduce universal 

 military service. 



It is important to remember that the growth of 

 the modern democracy has gone hand in hand 

 with the general development of the most advanced 

 nations of the world. The consolidation of the 

 political power of the people is the result of far- 

 reaching causes operating on a great scale through- 

 out the history of modern nations. The growth of 

 the democracy is intimately connected with the 

 growth of every other factor in the social life. For 

 example, the different stages in the rise of the 

 democracy could be paralleled by the improvements 

 in the art of printing. The development of the 

 democracy has on the one hand created the demand 

 for cheap literature and cheap newspapers, but it 

 has also on the other hand depended on the supply 

 of them. Further, the growth of the cheap news- 

 paper and of cheap literature depends on the 

 industrial development, on the improvement of our 

 technical capacities and resources, on man's grow- 

 ing mastery over nature. To the production of 

 the daily newspaper a thousand technical appliances 

 are subsidiary. Steam and electricity are the great 

 forces that move the vast mechanism on which 

 society is now based. In fact the growth of the 

 democracy is intimately connected with an indus- 

 trial and technical development which has cul- 

 minated in the railway, the penny post, the electric 

 telegraph, and the steam printing-press. The 

 peculiar influence of the human voice has not been 

 superseded, yet it is chiefly through the telegraph 

 and the printing-press that the modern democracy 

 obtains the education which the ancient democracy 

 received in their popular assemblies and in the 

 daily intercourse of the market-place. 



Thus it will be seen that the democracy as we 

 now have it is an outcome of the general historic 

 movement of modern times, and that it is a fact 

 which is not yet accomplished, but is still in process 

 of making. What its ultimate results for good or 

 evil may be, no man can predict. Scarcely any one, 

 however, will deny that it has greatly raised the 

 average level of intelligence and morality in modern 

 nations. The life of the citizen from the day he 

 enters the elementary school is a continual process 

 of education, and it brings with it in abundant 

 measure the discipline of responsibility. It carries 

 with it also the safeguard of publicity. The public 

 interests are protected by incessant watchfulness 

 and public criticism. On the other hand, the 

 drawbacks of democratic government are obvious 

 enough. Such vast masses of electors are too 

 much controlled by governments, caucuses, and 



