“…democracy cannot be justified merely as a system for translating the raw, uninformed will of a popular majority into public policy. It is foolish and historically false to suppose that enlightenment has nothing to do with democracy. It is foolish because democracy has usually been conceived as a system in which “rule by the people” makes it more likely that the “people” will get what they want, or what they believe is best…But to know what they want or what is best the people must be enlightened, at least to some degree…advocates of democracy have invariably recognized this…”
Quoted from “A Democratic Dilemma: System Effectiveness versus Citizen Participation” Robert A. Dahl
Source: Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 109, No. 1 (Spring, 1994), pp. 23-34
Published by: The Academy of Political Science
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2151659
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