While I'm at it, here's another one in the same web page from Aristotle: "Aristotle in his Rhetoric (c. 322 B.C.) hit democracy as 'when put to the strain, grows weak, and is supplanted by oligarchy.'" Aristotle would be unsurprised at what's happening to America nowadays.
At Mt Rushmore from one of the viewing areas is a set of quotes from each president.
For G Washington: “... this is an experiment.”
So does this mean that every Republic — every attempt to bring citizens into political decisions by ballot will degenerate into democracy and from that into centralized tyranny?
The Founders tried to mitigate that by the Electoral College and limited participation (landholders) but that did not stand the centralizing forces.
Bruno Leoni in Freedom and the Law suggests that a completely independent judiciary (English Common Law, Roman Law, Irish Law) could control that force.
And the British ignored the warnings of this brilliant statesman, as Americans have ignored the Framers. Both of our once glorious nations have suffered for our transgressions against the wisdom of our elders.
I really wish that the schools would teach the basic definitions of the words Republican and Democrat, and the underlying basic political philosophies of each.
If this were done, most people would elect to support the Republican way, as that is the political philosophy prescribed by our Constitution.
America is a Republic - not a Democracy.
I always thought Disraeli was a better prime minister than Gladstone. He was also more like our present conservatives.