Walter Lippmann and the American Century — 17 Tyranny of the Masses

1. 1. Lippmann argued that the average voter is inherently incompetent to direct public affairs, calling the idea a 'false ideal.'
2. 2. Lippmann claimed that more democracy—extending suffrage or getting out the vote—cannot fix democracy's problems because voters lack time, interest, or knowledge.
3. 3. Lippmann distinguished between insiders and outsiders, arguing that only insiders—those with necessary information—can make decisions, not because they are inherently better but because of their position.
4. 4. Lippmann wrote that the public must be put in its place so that each of us may live free of the trampling and roar of a bewildered herd.
5. 5. Lippmann argued that the justification for majority rule is not ethical superiority but the necessity of finding a place for the force of numbers, calling it a sublimated civil war.
6. 6. Lippmann saw the Scopes trial as confirming his suspicions about the prejudices of the masses and the tyranny of majority rule.
7. 7. Lippmann concluded that the Scopes trial reduced to absurdity the dogma that the majority should be sovereign in all things, separating spiritual equality from practical competence.
8. 8. Lippmann believed that democracy has had more failures than successes, citing demagogues like Chicago's 'Big Bill' Thompson who appealed to the lowest prejudices.
9. 9. Lippmann argued that limiting the power of majorities and disputing their moral authority is the most important task for those who care for liberty.