ABSTRACT

The technical specialization that inevitably results from all extensive organization renders necessary what is called expert leadership. Consequently the power of determination comes to be considered one of the specific attributes of leadership, and is gradually withdrawn from the masses to be concentrated in the hands of the leaders alone. As long as an organization is loosely constructed and vague in its outlines, no professional leadership can arise. For technical and administrative reasons, no less than for tactical reasons, a strong organization need an equally strong leadership. The practical ideal of democracy consists in the self-government of the masses in conformity with the decisions of popular assemblies. The sovereign masses are altogether incapable of undertaking the most necessary resolutions. Victor Considerant fiercely opposed the theory that popular sovereignty is guaranteed by the representative system. The sovereign people elects, in place of a king, a number of kinglets.