ent over more democratic concerns in their list of priorities. This reader vehemently disagrees with Bagehot in this regard, for it is precisely in times of crisis that constitutional and popular government is rightly tested. For such government to be said to work, it must work at such times. But Bagehot values the right to replace a leader without regard for popular opinion in times of crisis. However, such times of crisis are precisely what the people have in mind when they select a leader.
The more Bagehot writes, the more disdain he expresses for "the mass of the people." He argues that the country in which the mass of the people turn the fate of the nation over to an "elite" and "superior" and "wiser" few is a "happy" country. It is a small leap to argue, then, that it is acceptable to lie to the mass, or even use outright coercion, if such action results in the submission of the mass and the leadership by the few.
Bagehot, Walter. The English Constitution. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1986.
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