Sublime

Polybius on the politics of Rome

Two models of governance have historically been in contention: the aristocratic (in which appointed leaders have significant power to make decisions on behalf of citizens) and the democratic (which emphasizes the autonomy of the citizenry).

Nevertheless, the second of these measures is the only thing that can possibly counterbalance the first; and it will be found that an elective authority which is not subject to judicial power will, sooner or later, either elude all control or be destroyed.

D’où l’importance de l’État de droit et des contre-pouvoirs mais aussi de l’éducation des citoyens à la liberté dont ils doivent assumer la responsabilité ultime. La démocratie n’est donc pas garantie par la Providence ou par un principe transcendant mais par l’engagement des hommes au service de la liberté, ce qui relève d’une forme de pari pascal

DURING THESE LAST THREE YEARS, Lyndon Johnson would again, as in his early years, have to placate Herman Brown and the Texas right-wingers (which he did by steering to passage, in behind-the-scenes maneuvers, the harshly anti-labor Landrum-Griffin Act) and the great Senate bulls (he paid off a lot of debts to Clinton Anderson by cooperating in Ande

Americans want courts to protect minorities and defend liberties, and to defer to elected officials. We want arobust political life and one that is just.

La construction d’un champ politique clivé non pas entre des progressistes (ou des « libéraux », au sens américain du terme) plus ou moins radicaux, et des conservateurs plus ou moins décidés, entre l’électorat du parti démocrate et celui du parti républicain (ou, en termes européens, entre la gauche et la droite), mais entre un centre modéré et ra

When elections are rare, they expose the State to a violent crisis—When they are frequent, they keep up a degree of feverish excitement—The