They are
responsible to that body for all their actions, and retain their offices
only so long as they retain the confidence and good will of the Commons.
_#An Aristocracy.#_--An aristocracy is a government in the hands of a
select few, called the aristocracy, who transmit this authority to their
children. There are to-day no aristocratic governments proper, though
many nations exhibit aristocratic tendencies. In nearly all of the
European countries, one branch, at least, of their legislatures is
composed of members holding their seats on account of noble birth, thus
admitting the aristocratic element into their governments.
_#Democracy.#_--A pure democracy is a government in which all the people
rule directly, meeting in popular assemblies in which is determined by
the votes of the majority how the government is to be administered. This
form of government is obviously possible only in very small communities.
Several of the Grecian states governed themselves after this manner. No
perfect example of a nation with this form of government can be said to
exist at this time. The nearest approach to pure democracy is found in
certain cantons of Switzerland. The Roman historian Tacitus tells us
that the early Germans governed themselves in a purely democratic
manner, and the first governments of several of our American colonies
were of the democratic type. When we come to the study of local
government in the United States we shall see the democratic form
followed in the New England Town Meetings.
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