220 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

in practice than defined in words. It springs from the fact that
democratic Governments, unlike dictatorships, have a moral
ctejm on the allegiance of their subjects. To the eternal question
of politics, <cWhy should I obey?" the democratic Government
can reply, "Because we are your Government; we cannot please
everyone, but we please the majority; if we do not please you,
you can set to work to alter the majority's opinion; in the mean-
time you should obey us, unless you make the claim that your
wishes are more important than those of anyone else—a claim
which you cannot expect other people to admit9*. The dictator's
answer is not based on argument, but on assertion, "Obedience
to me is the duty of a citizen; the Leader knows best; if you do
not agree, you are no true citizen99. This attitude is well illustrated
by Hitler's demand, at the 1937 Nazi Party Congress, for "blind
obedience". The necessary blindness can be secured by control
of Press, wireless and every method of communication. Since a
democracy is not obliged to deprive its people of the use of their
faculties, the relations between Government and people, and
between one citizen and another^ are happier. They can argue
without fighting; there is no need of spies or censorship. The
higher civilisation of a democracy is manifested, not only in
the intellectual sphere but in the friendliness of everyday
relations.

GROWTH OF FASCISM.

Yet democracy has not been the commonest form of Govern-
ment. Government is older* than reason, and it is only as reason
is applied to politics that the merits of democracy appear. In the
I9th century it spread rapidly, the Parliamentary system of Great
Britain being widely used as a model. The War was won by
democratic powers, and by 1919 the forms of democracy were
established in all European countries except Russia* But before
long these forms had been tendered meaningless in several of
the smaller States, where military leaders had seized power,
often with the help of the old ruling class. In 1922 Mussolini