Egalitarianism: Impact of Voter Consciousness

To make democracy effective requires not only institutions and guarantees, but also attitudes of the people. Respect for the right of the people to assert their point of view, however unpopular or seemingly wrong-headed, is fundamental to the workings of the democratic process of discussion and choice. Nothing can be exerting a greater influence on the democratic character of a state than the individual citizen¿s tolerance of (though not indifference to) ideas, whether expressed individually or through associations which are contrary to or challenge his own. Censorship and governmental restraint are obvious ways of creating conformism, but social pressure may be no less a force in crushing the interplay of ideas on which democracy depends.