Звездный десант

           Thepracticalreasonforcontinuingoursystemisthesameasthepracticalreasonforcontinuinganything:Itworkssatisfactorily.

           "Nevertheless,itisinstructivetoobservethedetails.Throughouthistorymenhavelaboredtoplacethesovereignfranchiseinhandsthatwouldguarditwellanduseitwisely,forthebenefitofall.Anearlyattemptwasabsolutemonarchy,passionatelydefendedasthe‘divinerightofkings.’

           "Sometimesattemptsweremadetoselectawisemonarch,rathermanleaveituptoGod,aswhentheSwedespickedaFrenchman,GeneralBernadotte,torulethem.TheobjectiontothisisthatthesupplyofBernadottesislimited.

           "Historicexamplesrangefromabsolutemonarchtoutteranarch;mankindhastriedthousandsofwaysandmanymorehavebeenproposed,someweirdintheextremesuchastheantlikecommunismurgedbyPlatounderthemisleadingtitleTheRepublic.Buttheintenthasalwaysbeenmoralistic:toprovidestableandbenevolentgovernment.

           "Allsystemsseektoachievethisbylimitingfranchisetothosewhoarebelievedtohavethewisdomtouseitjustly.Irepeat‘allsystems’;eventheso-called‘unlimiteddemocracies’excludedfromfranchisenotlessthanonequarteroftheirpopulationsbyage,birth,polltax,criminalrecord,orother."

           MajorReidsmiledcynically."Ihaveneverbeenabletoseehowathirty-yearoldmoroncanvotemorewiselythanafifteen-year-oldgenius...