"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury.
"From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."
This quote is attributed to Alexander Tyler. There are efforts to disprove this. They are noted at the site where I got the quote, http://www.wrisley.com/cycle.htm.
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