Theodore Lowi Quote

"Participation is an instrument of conquest because it encourages people to give their consent to being governed. ... Deeply embedded in people's sense of fair play is the principle that those who play the game must accept the outcome. Those who participate in politics are similarly committed, even if they are consistently on the losing side. Why do politicians plead with everyone to get out and vote? Because voting is the simplest and easiest form of participation by masses of people. Even though it is minimal participation, it is sufficient to commit all voters to being governed, regardless of who wins."

by:	Theodore Lowi (1931-2017) American political scientist
Source:	INCOMPLETE CONQUEST, (1981), pp. 25-26.
Rating:
Categories:	Conquest, Consent, Government, Democracy, Politics, Vote, Authority
	Tweet

Wow, right on the money!  By voting for either of the government approved candidates, I essentially consent to their rule.  And their jurisdiction ever widens to eventually include everyone and everything.  American government was chartered to protect the people from being ruled by church or state, to protect them in their lives, liberty, and property.  However, now the government has become the predator and plunders the people just like the emperors of old.  -- E Archer, NYC      1
Excellent points, a very accurate observation. In the last election I heard a lot of "the lesser of 2 evils". My thought, it is still evil. A popular mantra was, "if you don't vote, you don't have reason to complain." Again, Lysander Spooner's comment here rings more true than ever: "A man is no less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years." There is an absolutely incompatible difference between individual sentient sovereigns organizing a body of servants to secure their (individually and in concert) inalienable rights and liberty at natural law; AND, citizens of a body politic that governs over its chattel members.  -- Mike, Norwalk      1
Regardless, MAGA moves in the right direction, WWG1WGA. Domestic policy should reflect such uncommon Commonsense.    -- Ronw13, OR
The participation in the politics game is an exercise and performance of negativity. The opponents appear to just unproductively criticize each other, all the while offering no insights or appraisal of the current crisis situations that afflict our circumstances or even remotely understanding those problems that face our nation. The answer appears that the politician has gained his or her position be capitalizing on  the ills that afflict our nation and is not motivated to fix our impending social and technological obstacles. That leaves all the burden on the socially conscious American to solve our problems. Socialism is the vision of social abilities to create.  -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown

Tweet  Rate this quote! How many stars? 0 1 2 3 4 5	What do YOU think?
Your name:	Your town:     CLICK JUST ONCE!

Get a Quote-A-Day! Free!
Liberty Quotes sent to your mail box.
Email: