Our front page features a quote from Ernest Naville, “In a democratic government the right of decision belongs to the majority, but the right of representation belongs to all.” Who is Ernest Naville, and where does the quote come from? Naville was born in 1816 in Geneva, Switzerland, and most of his writings are theological (Google Books has a nice selection). We know from an 1872 pamphlet, On the theory and practice of representative elections, that he was acquainted with the writings of Mill on the subject.
The line is question is from La patrie et le partis, 1865, p14-15. The original: “Dans un État démocratique, le droit de décision appartient à la majorité, mais le droit de représentation doit appartenir à tous.”
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