As they range lower and lower in development, that form
of government will be, generally speaking, less suitable to them;
though this is not true universally: for the adaptation of a people to
representative government does not depend so much upon the place
they occupy in the general scale of humanity as upon the degree in
which they possess certain special requisites; requisites, however, so
closely connected with their degree of general advancement, that any
variation between the two is rather the exception than the rule. Let
us examine at what point in the descending series representative
government ceases altogether to be admissible, either through its
own unfitness, or the superior fitness of some other regimen.
First, then, representative, like any other government, must be
unsuitable in any case in which it cannot permanently subsist- i.e.
in which it does not fulfil the three fundamental conditions
enumerated in the first chapter. These were- 1. That the people
should be willing to receive it. 2. That they should be willing and
able to do what is necessary for its preservation. 3. That they should
be willing and able to fulfil the duties and discharge the functions
which it imposes on them.
The willingness of the people to accept representative government
only becomes a practical question when an enlightened ruler, or a
foreign nation or nations who have gained power over the country,
are disposed to offer it the boon.
Pages:
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89