ABSTRACT
Democratic government is a regime in which a great number of men make public affairs their business and, in order to get ahead in that business, organize for concerted effort to capture public offices and promise courses of governmental action as rewards for electoral support. The electorate is the base of competition for political power; the approval of voters is what the political managers and candidates compete for. By giving their votes to one candidate or another the voters determine who wins and who loses in the competition for political power, and in determining this they make their impression on the policies of government. Voters who put such demands on government may also be viewed as lacking competence if their behavior is thought to be an unwise balancing of long-run and short-run interests. Competence and interest appear to be basic tests for fixing the bounds of enfranchisement.
