ABSTRACT
It is surely a fact that recent public scene issues a special challenge to scrutinize the foundations of American democratic system. Some notions about how they get out of balance, and the consequences of too great an imbalance of autonomy and equality appear in discussion of the relations of these requisites to the group competition model of democratic government. Any person who shares conviction that popular self-government can flourish only if due measures of autonomy, equality, and commonalty persist will surely agree that political scientists have no more urgent task than a full description of the interrelations of those requisite conditions and the institutions and operations of popular government. Commonalty is term for the likeness of mind and behavior that characterizes a population. A high measure of commonalty is compatible with varying degrees of autonomy and equality. The commonalty of belief and behavior that is requisite for popular government appears to be in greater jeopardy than either autonomy or equality.
