Best 3 quotes of Peter J. Emerson on MyQuotes

Come the next election, in a two-party or two-party-plus system, a very small swing amongst the voters, a slight shift of the median voter on the normal distribution curve, may lead to a complete change of government, whereupon a new set of persons takes over, and a new set of ministers accepts collective responsibility for policies which, in some instances, completely overturn the decisions of the former administration. Yet all is due to just a very small swing. Majoritarian politics, which some claim offers stable government, is actually part of a system which perpetuates instability, especially if viewed from a long-term perspective.

In years gone by, in Ancient Egypt for example, the human ruler was almost deified; that or, as in China, he (or just once a she) was regarded as the son (child) of Heaven. In Europe after the Dark Ages, a little modesty prevailed and, from London to Moscow, citizens at all levels of society believed in the divine right of kings. We now know that right was wrong. In like manner, in years to come, people may well look back and regard, not so much the underlying principle behind the right of majority rule, but the practice of basing such rule on the majority vote, as being a fundamentally flawed interpretation of a true democracy.

There is an attitude in the West which tends to assume that western norms are adequate and capable of universal application. Admittedly, there are some people who criticise the predominant western belief in growth economics, who worry about basing a national economy on debt, and who question the very notion that people and/or institutions may own land and other natural resources. Alas, there are all too few who question the western and now almost ubiquitous democratic structure which is based on the divisive binary vote