GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE 217

received the vote took up a task with which popular discussion
had already made them familiar.

The first merit of democracy is, accordingly, its civilising
influence on those who practise it. The habit of discussion,
developed in politics, extends to all activities; new ideas in
sciences and arts can receive examination. The dictator, who
cannot hand over power to another party if opinion changes,
must see to it that opinion does not change. If, like Hitler, he has
climbed to power by firing his people with the idea of racial
purity and superiority to other nations, then any research into
anthropology which suggests that there is no such thing as
racial purity must be suppressed. If Government policy is based,
as in die U.S.S.R., on a particular view of human history, then
any discoveries about the past which cannot be fitted into that
view must be thrust aside. The issue between dictatorship and
democracy cannot be confined to politics; in' every sphere of
intellectual activity the question arises: "What is the purpose of
this activity? Is it to discover the truth or to find evidence in
support of the view already held by the Government? " Accord-
ingly, dictatorship stretches its control over art, science and
religion. As men continually underfed lose appetite so nations
shut off from free thought lose the desire for it, and the dictator's
task becomes easier and the rate of progress less. Such a tyranny,
if not assaulted from without, can, like the Byzantine Empire,
last for centuries without adding anything to human happiness
or knowledge.

No Dictatorship, however, can alter the truth. If, for example,
persecuting Jews does not make a nation better, the dictatorship
which practises it will sooner or later face a disillusioned people
who, having no other method of expression, must attempt revolt.
Dictatorships, lacking the check of criticism, are likely not only
to make mistakes, but to persist in them till they bring disaster.
Democracy not only allows entry to new ideas but enables them,
when they have convinced a majority, to inspire Government
policy. Peaceful change is thus the second merit of democracy.