Quote by John Buchan
When I examined my political faith I found that my strongest belief was in democracy according to my own definition. Democracythe essential thing as distinguished from this or that democratic governmentwas primarily an attitude of mind, a spiritual testament, and not an economic structure or a political machine. The testament involved certain basic beliefsthat the personality was sacrosanct, which was the meaning of liberty; that policy should be settled by free discussion; that normally a minority should be ready to yield to a majority, which in turn should respect a minoritys sacred things. It seemed to me that democracy had been in the past too narrowly defined and had been identified illogically with some particular economic or political system such as laissez-faire or British parliamentarism. I could imagine a democracy which economically was largely socialist and which had not our constitutional pattern.
Summary
This quote emphasizes that democracy is not solely defined by a specific economic or political structure, but rather by a certain mindset and set of beliefs. The speaker argues that democracy is a spiritual testament rooted in the values of individual freedom, respectful debate, and the protection of minority rights. The quote suggests that democracy can exist in various economic and political systems, challenging the narrow definitions that have been associated with it in the past.
By John Buchan
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