GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE 215

constituencies cause Britain to fall short of this ideal; but the
former is not a conclusive or permanent check to democracy and
the latter is such a defect as must creep in in course of time, and
can be removed. Second^ that a large number of citizens should take
part in the actual work of Government. If they do not do this
they will not so much govern thems&lyes as choose between one
set of masters and another; they will be unacquainted with the
problems of Government, and their judgment of those who do
govern, being uninformed, will be ineffective. The British
Cabinet and Parliament cannot contain more than a tiny fraction
of the citizens; but many more serve on local authorities and
acquire valuable experience. In voluntary associations—Trade
Unions, Co-operatives, Educational and Housing Associations,
and political parties, the citizen can learn how to make decisions,
adminster property and discover how some, at least, of the laws
of his country work, and help to get them changed. The combined
effect of these opportunities is considerable, and in this respect
Britain does well, in view of the fact that she is a great State
where the direct democracy of small Swiss cantons is impossible.
Third, the will of the majority, acting through the Government,
should be obeyed. Government by consent cannot mean that all
citizens should approve of all acts of Government, and if the
dissatisfied do not obey there will be no Government at all.
While, therefore, a democratic Government must not use force
as a substitute for consent, it has both a right and a duty to meet
any defiance of its authority with all the force at its command.
Fourth, the Government must allow all its subjects to criticise
its acts; it must give regular opportunities for the election of a
new Government, and freedom to all who wish to conduct
propaganda and build up organisations which have as their object
the peaceful conversion of opinion towards a change of Govern-
ment. Minorities justifiably claim these rights in return for their
obedience: if the rights are not granted tthere is no way of
changing the Government peaceably, and, even if it represents
the people at first, there is no guarantee that it will continue to
p