It is a besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which masses of men exhibit their tyranny.
"The American Democrat: Or, Hints on the Social and Civic Relations of the United States of America". Book by James Fenimore Cooper, 1838.
![It is a besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which masses of men exhibit their tyranny.](http://cdn.myquotes.org/images/james-f-cooper/it-is-a-besetting-vice-of-democracies-to-substitute-public-opinion-for-law-this-is-the-usual-form-in-which.jpg)