Abstract:
The eighteenth century ideal of self-government of the people was based on an
assumption that renders it incoherent and unrealistic, namely, that interests and values
are sufficiently harmonious that each individual needs to obey only himself while living
under laws chosen by all. When faced with the reality of political parties, theorists of
democracy recognized that some interests and values are inevitably in conflict and that
nobody and no body can implement the will of all people. Yet even if no single
government can fulfill the will of all the people, successive governments can implement
the wills of different people in turn. Partisan alternations in office come as close as
possible to fulfilling the ideal of self-government. Not very close, but the closest.
