Fallibility, Democracy, and War
by James Carroll, 6/10/2003 Boston Globe

Democracy is a political system that assumes, positively, that all citizens are equally worthy of responsibility for the community. But a negative assumption informs the idea, too - namely, that all citizens are equally inclined to the self-deception that leads to the deceit of others. That is why democracy is characterized not only by freedoms but by checks and balances, what might be called a structure of suspicion. Because everyone is known to be capable of abusing power, no one is permitted to exercise power without restriction, accountability, and the regular test of election.
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