Football strategy does not originate in a scrimmage: it is useless to expect solutions in a political campaign.
Walter LippmannRead
We must abandon the notion that the people govern. Instead, we must adopt the theory that, by their occasional mobilisations as a majority, people support or oppose the individuals who actually govern.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The idea of people governing themselves is misleading; rather, they influence governance through their collective actions.
In this quote, Walter Lippmann suggests that the common belief in direct democracy—where the people are seen to govern—is a misconception. Instead, he argues that the public plays a more passive role, primarily expressing their support or opposition to leaders through occasional voting or mobilization, indicating that true governance lies more in the hands of a few individuals rather than the populace at large.
Themes
GovernanceDemocracyPublic OpinionPowerPolitics
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate, one could reference this quote to highlight the complexities of democratic governance.
More from Walter Lippmann
All quotes →The simple opposition between the people and big business has disappeared because the people themselves have become so deeply involved in big business.
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The news and the truth are not the same thing.
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There is nothing so bad but it can masquerade as moral.
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The tendency of the casual mind is to pick out or stumble upon a sample which supports or defies its prejudices, and then to make it the representative of a whole class.
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The private citizen, beset by partisan appeals for the loan of his Public Opinion, will soon see, perhaps, that these appeals are not a compliment to his intelligence, but an imposition on his good nature and an insult to his sense of evidence.
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