Plebiscite Quotes
This illustrated the problem with Nazi Germany where Hitler was elected by the people. In a Constitutional democracy such as the United States, when an elected President attempts to cut away constitutionally insured freedoms, there is public opinion, the press, a Congress and a Supreme Court to check him as occurred in the George W. Bush Administration over wiretapping, torture, and handing of war captives. These were checked, but they were minor and trivial compared to Nazi Germany’s abuse of freedom. In Germany, Hitler weakened or destroyed all those who might check his power and therein lies the essential difference. The despot must eliminate or weaken the checks on him. In the American democracy, the Congress finally checked John Adams’ Alien & Sedition Act as did public opinion by turning him out of office after one term. But in each case, in democracy or dictatorship, the same argument is often made if the elected leader impinges on some freedoms: it is legitimate because he represents the will of the people. Spencer and many others have always disagreed.
The manifesto was designed to stop the practice of one country annexing part of another either by conquest or by purchase from the previous dominant power. Nations would trade and sell colonies or provinces to each other without any thought whatsoever to the wishes of the populations of those territories.
1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor
Prior to WWI there had been several plebiscites in Austria with the people overwhelming voting to become part of Germany. But after the War, the victorious allies prohibited any more plebiscites as they did not want militaristic Germany to become larger or more powerful. This was a sore point, and one of Adolf Hitler’s first WWII foreign actions was marching into Austria and incorporating it.
This is an example of the 3 leading democratic powers refusing to recognize the will of the people in other nations in determining their leadership choice. King Constantine I was a demagogue who maintained popularity with the Greeks by constant roiling and urging conflict with Muslim Turkey—the traditional enemy of the Christian Greeks. It was particularly hypocritical in many eyes since President Woodrow Wilson had established the principle of self-determination. However, Constantine I was a disaster for the Greek people. This is one of the earliest situations where American foreign policy support was in conflict between good sense and self-determination. The dilemma has faced America frequently since then and was especially acute in the 2012 “Arab Spring” Egyptian election of the Muslim brotherhood which turned out to be a disaster for Egypt but at an earlier time had won a national election.
The State Constitutional ratification convention for Constitutional amendments is
