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This essay will deal mainly with the origins of Liberal Democracy, and will say only a little about its current prospects. I turn to the history, however, because I believe we can learn from it a great deal about the strengths and weaknesses of liberal democray and therefore its prospects. Indeed, what I wish to sress is a certain source of strength that has helped free governement survive in the long competition with ungree government …

…a process in which demands are made and the will of the people is asserted. It is also a process in which the truth about public policy is examined, criticised, and improved- a process in which something is discovered or invented or learned. Free government consists not only of an organisation of will, but also of an organisation of thought. For that reason it has access to a source of power denied to unfree government.