ABSTRACT
Electoral democracy rests on general acceptance of the convention that it is right and convenient in certain circumstances to take the formally expressed opinion of a part for the opinion of the whole, and that all are then bound in law and conscience by the decision taken. Such a convention is always found in democracies of this type, indeed it constitutes their special character or definition; but the practical bearing of the rule, like that of many such rules, depends on interpretation. What part is it of which the opinion is to prevail?
