[From Faguet's "Cult of Incompetence."]
Democracy has the greatest inducement to elect representatives who are
representative, who, in the first place, resemble it as closely as
possible, who, in the second place, have no individuality of their own,
who, finally, having no fortune of their own, have no sort of
independence. We deplore that democracy surrenders itself to
politicians, but from its own point of view, a point of view which it
cannot avoid taking up, it is absolutely right. What is a politician? He
is a man who, in respect of his personal opinions, is a nullity, in
respect of education a mediocrity; he shares the general sentiments and
passions of the crowds, his sole occupation is politics, and if that
career were closed to him he would die of starvation. He is precisely
the thing of which democracy has need. He will never be led away by his
education to develop ideas of his own; and, having no ideas of his own,
he will not allow them to enter into conflict with his prejudices. His
prejudices will be, at first, by a feeble sort of conviction, afterward,
by reason of his own interest, identical with those of the crowd; and
lastly, his poverty and the impossibility of his getting a living
outside of politics make it certain that he will never break out of the
narrow circle where his political employers have confined him; his
imperative mandate is the material necessity which obliges him to obey;
his imperative mandate is his inability to quarrel with his bread and
butter. Democracy obviously has need of politicians, has need of nothing
else but politicians, and has need indeed that there shall be in
politics nothing else but politicians.
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