Selecting political leaders by popular election is an unquestioned hallmark of representative democracies--the institutional manifestation of Lincoln's promise of a government of the people and by the people. But in 2016, Lincoln's promise seems to have given way to Hamilton's nightmare--with his worries that popular elections would produce demagogues who paid an "obsequious court to the people," appealing to their passions and prejudices rather than to their reason. This book examines the commitment to the widest level of participation among the largest number of citizens in the selection...

Selecting political leaders by popular election is an unquestioned hallmark of representative democracies--the institutional manifestation of Lincoln's promise of a government of the people and by the people. But in 2016, Lincoln's promise seems to have given way to Hamilton's nightmare--with his worries that popular elections would produce demagogues who paid an "obsequious court to the people," appealing to their passions and prejudices rather than to their reason. This book examines the commitment to the widest level of participation among the largest number of citizens in the selection...