Popular government Book

A masculine mind no doubt (that's Maine's preferred compliment), but the language is dated and cumbersome. Even translated, Jouvenel who continued Maine's work of critiquing popular forms of government, was the more enjoyable to read. Partly the problem is my own; a more familiar relation with comparative governance would draw out more value from this work.

"A candidate for Presidency, nominated for election by the whole people, will, as a rule, be a man selected because he is not open to obvious criticism, and will therefore in all probability be a mediocrity." Trump's election has more often resulted in fears of how much further we can collectively travel down the road to Idiocracy, however, one unexpected gift may be the ability for the capable and prestige-worthy person, who would otherwise have been written off for some minor indiscretion, to now be more acceptable to a public who has seen much worse.