““Not everyone would see a passive public as necessarily a bad thing. There are benefits to limiting political engagement to a minority of highly committed citizens, with the majority involving itself only in elections and other major events. This elitist theory exists as as strand within Western democratic thought, with proponents arguing that modern governance is so complex that over-politicisation of issues and over-participation by the masses is an liability: it would add an irrational element to governance that could undermine democracy. Sustainable democracy instead requires a fairly passive mass, such that most matters are debated and settled within the political elite, at least when things are running smoothly””
![“The best defence [for a democracy, for the public good]…” quote by John Ralston Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/612/john-ralston-saul-3128_aggressiveness_the-best-defence-for-a-democracy-for-the_1365828.jpg)
