Was Winston Churchill’s famous remark about democracy his own, or the words of somebody else? —A.B.
Somebody else. Here is what Churchill said in the House of Commons, 11 November 1947, speech in debate on the Parliament Bill (second reading). Churchill was leading the Conservatives in opposing further limitations to the powers of the House of Lords, established in the Parliament Act of 1911:
Many forms of Government have been tried,and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, continuously rule, and that public opinion, expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide and control the actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters.
See my book, Churchill by Himself, page 573. Original reference is in Churchill, Europe Unite (London: Cassell, 1950), page 197.
William F. Buckley, Jr., commenting on trickery in Presidential debates, reminded us of Churchill’s remark when he wrote: “We are made to ask what it is that political democracy gives us. The system is utilitarian. But is it a fit object of faith and hope?”
