Sir, Mr Peter Croft’s definition of democracy (letter, August 17) as “the restriction of central arbitrary power by its answerability to a body of informed opinion” is a fitting description of oligarchic government as practised in the 19th century. It was government of, by, and for the propertied classes and, as such, highly successful and widely admired, here and abroad.
But it has little to do with democracy, as this term has been understood since the American and French revolutions. We have every right to be proud of the progress, since the 17th century, of liberal institutions in this country, but liberalism is not the same as democracy.
Yours faithfully,
MICHAEL HART,
21 Cranborne Avenue,
Eastbourne, East Sussex BN20 7TS.
August 19.