February 22, 2025

The majority is the best way, because it is visible and has strength to make itself obeyed. Yet it is the opinion of the least able.

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic theologian, Pensées, XIV, 878

Is this not the essential dilemma of representative democracy?

To function properly, to escape the dilemma, there is a perennial need for compromise—so that the views of various factions, the knowledge of a range of experts, the sentiments of those most affected are all taken into account.