Many commentators write as though the essence of civilization was its art galleries, concert halls, its universities and its libraries.  Such agencies are the trappings, decorations and fringes of a civilization.  There is no justification for such a selective approach.  The strong right-arm of every civilization has been its wealth (money) and its martial equipment (its guns).

Success in politics has been described as the art of selecting the possible and bringing it to fruition.  Every community is more or less fragmented by deviations, contradictions, confrontations and conflicts.  These fragmentations begin in the personality and extend through the entire social structure—­from the individual, through the family, such voluntary associations as the sports club, the trade union, the merchants’ association, the educational system, the political party, the municipal or the national government.

Unrestrained and undirected social fragmentation leads to conflict, destruction, perhaps to chaos.  Success in politics rests on an understanding of the chaos and its causes and an integration of conflicting forces behind specific programs and around charismatic personalities.

One aspect of the problem is especially disturbing and baffling to the uninitiated.  Compared with the brief adulthood of an individual the life span of communities is immensely long.  The individual is at his or her best for a few years or decades.  Communities and their institutions endure for hundreds and in some cases for thousands of years.  Under the most favorable conditions an individual can hope to play a part in community affairs for a decade or two.  Before he comes on the stage of public affairs and after he leaves it, social life stretches indefinitely.

Politics is one aspect of that more or less extensive social experience.  Its immediate objective is to bring order out of chaos and replace randomness by purpose and if possible by plan.

In the wake of the bourgeois revolution, which was directed particularly against monarchy and generally against absolutism, the most obvious and attractive social pattern was a republic, ruled by the citizens in a manner which in their opinion was best calculated to promote their safety and happiness.

Under a republican government public affairs would be openly and freely discussed by the citizens at a time or place of their choice by word of mouth, through a free press or in public gatherings.  At stated intervals elections would be held at which all citizens of proper age would select representatives and a legislature or parliament where questions of public concern could be debated and appropriate measures adopted.  Implementation or execution of these measures would be placed in the hands of executive officers responsible to the parliament.  As a safeguard against any miscarriage of the public will, the right of petition was guaranteed.  In some instances the right of referendum and recall was provided.  To obviate any miscarriage of justice, provision was made for courts, responsible to the citizenry, as an independent arm of government competent to protect and assert popular rights.