Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 edition. Excerpt: ... to the stars balanced against each other in the solar system; the president is a sort of central sun; the supreme and inflexible law of gravity that knits the suns and systems together corresponds to the indefeasible and inalienable natural rights that underlie all laws and constitutions.1 Directly opposed to this mechanical and static conception of the state we have the Darwinian theory that the state is a living thing. The norms of political obligation are not to be interpreted after the analogy of the mechanical universe of the stars but rather after the analogy of living and growing organisms. In the organism there is nothing to suggest "checks and balances." The significance of each part is determined with reference to the function it plays as a member of a living whole. The oneness of life that animates the organism is not derived from some source outside itself. The very essence of the life of the organism emerges in its unity and purposefulness, in the cooperation of the function of each member with that of the other for the preservation of the life of the whole. The norms that regulate the health of the organism as a whole likewise determine the functions of the individual members. It is this dynamic conception that inspires social democracy. 5. The Democracy Of The Future The conclusions reached above suggest that we are entering upon a new phase in the evolution of American democracy. The ultimate bond of the democracy of the future can not be eternal principles of right embodied in a code of laws; it can not be the selfish ties of business; it can not be the coercive force of government and police control. The only enduring basis upon which a free people can rest their political loyalties is the conscious and reasoned..."
