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its orders and the bad as those who defy it. Consequently our
own political party consists of good men, and the opposite
party consists of bad men. Good government is government
by our group, bad government that by the other group. The
Montagues are good , the Capulets bad , or vice versa.
Such a point of view, if taken seriously, makes social life impos-
sible. Only force can decide which group is good and which
bad , and the decision, when made, may at any moment be upset
by an insurrection. Neither group, if it attains power, will care for
the interests of the other, except in so far as it is controlled by the
the taming of power 227
fear of rousing rebellion. Social life, if it is to be anything better
than tyranny, demands a certain impartiality. But since, in many
matters, collective action is necessary, the only practicable form
of impartiality, in such matters, is the rule of the majority.
Democracy, however, though necessary, is by no means the
only political condition required for the taming of power. It is
possible, in a democracy, for the majority to exercise a brutal
and wholly unnecessary tyranny over a minority. In the period
from 1885 to 1922, the government of the United Kingdom
was (except for the exclusion of women) democratic, but that
did not prevent the oppression of Ireland. Not only a national,
but a religious or political minority may be persecuted. The
safeguarding of minorities, so far as is compatible with orderly
government, is an essential part of the taming of power.
This requires a consideration of the matters as to which the
community must act as a whole, and those as to which uniform-
ity is unnecessary. The most obvious questions as to which a
collective decision is imperative are those that are essentially
geographical. Roads, railways, sewers, gas mains, and so on,
must take one course and not another. Sanitary precautions, say
against plague or rabies, are geographical: it would not do for
Christian Scientists to announce that they will take no precau-
tions against infection, because they might infect others. War is a
geographical phenomenon, unless it is civil war, and even then it
soon happens that one area is dominated by one side, and
another by the other.
Where there is a geographically concentrated minority, such
as the Irish before 1922, it is possible to solve a great many
problems by devolution. But when the minority is distributed
throughout the area concerned, this method is largely inapplic-
able. Where Christian and Mohammedan populations live side by
side, they have, it is true, different marriage laws, but except where
religion is concerned they all have to submit to one government.
It has been gradually discovered that theological uniformity is
228 the taming of power
not necessary to a State, and that Protestants and Catholics can
live peaceably together under one government. But this was not
the case during the first 130 years after the Reformation.
The question of the degree of liberty that is compatible with
order is one that cannot be settled in the abstract. The only thing
that can be said in the abstract is that, where there is no technical
reason for a collective decision, there should be some strong
reason connected with public order if freedom is to be inter-
fered with. In the reign of Elizabeth, when Roman Catholics
wished to deprive her of the throne, it is not surprising that the
government viewed them with disfavour. Similarly in the Low
Countries, where Protestants were in revolt against Spain, it was
to be expected that the Spaniards would persecute them. Now-
adays theological questions have not the same political import-
ance. Even political differences, if they do not go too deep, are
no reason for persecution. Conservatives, Liberals, and Labour
people can all live peaceably side by side, because they do not
wish to alter the Constitution by force; but Fascists and Com-
munists are more difficult to assimilate. Where there is dem-
ocracy, attempts of a minority to seize power by force, and
incitements to such attempts, may reasonably be forbidden, on
the ground that a law-abiding majority has a right to a quiet life
if it can secure it. But there should be toleration of all propa-
ganda not involving incitement to break the law, and the law
should be as tolerant as is compatible with technical efficiency
and the maintenance of order. I shall return to this subject under
the head of psychology.
From the point of view of the taming of power, very difficult
questions arise as to the best size of a governmental unit. In a
great modern State, even when it is a democracy, the ordinary
citizen has very little sense of political power; he does not decide
what are to be the issues in an election, they probably concern
matters remote from his daily life and almost wholly outside his
experience, and his vote makes so small a contribution to the
the taming of power 229
total as to seem to himself negligible. In the ancient City State
these evils were much less; so they are, at present, in local gov-
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