“The Voice of the People has been said to be the voice of God: and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact.”—Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 1787, at the Federal Convention (Yates’s notes, cited Sources and Documents Illustrating the American Revolution, edited by S. G. Morison).

“... consider ‘Government by Public Opinion’ as a formula.... It is an admirable formula: but it presupposes, not only that public opinion exists, but that on any particular question there is a public opinion ready to decide the issue. Indeed, it presupposes that the supreme statesman in democratic government is public opinion. Many of the shortcomings of democratic government are due to the fact that public opinion is not necessarily a great statesman at all.”—From “Some Thoughts on Public Life,” a lecture by Viscount Grey of Fallodon, February 3, 1923.