ABSTRACT
The parliamentary assemblies of the most widely different countries, of Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, and America, present great analogies in their debates and votes, and leave the respective governments face to face with identical difficulties. Moreover, the parliamentary system represents the ideal of all modern civilised people. The system is the expression of the idea, psychologically erroneous, but generally admitted, that a large gathering of men is much more capable than a small number of coming to a wise and independent decision on a given subject. The general characteristics of crowds are to be met with in parliamentary assemblies: Intellectual simplicity, irritability, suggestibility, the exaggeration of the sentiments and the preponderating influence of a few leaders. In a parliamentary assembly the success of a speech depends almost solely on the prestige possessed by the speaker, and not at all on the arguments he brings forward.
