Three quotes from Alexis de Tocqueville, the 19th century surveyor of what democracy in America really was:

"The moral authority of the majority is partly based on the notion that
there is more intelligence and wisdom in a number of men united than a
single individual, and that the number of legislators is more important
that their quality."

---

"I know of no country in which, speaking generally, there is less
independence of mind and true freedom of discussion than in America
[...]
As long as the majority is still undecided, discussion is carried on;
but as soon as its decision is irrevocably pronounced, everyone is
silent, and the friends as well as the opponents of the measure unite in
assenting to its propriety." (This can also be called loyal dissent -- B.P.)

---

""The sovereign can no longer say, "You shall think as I do on pain of
death": but he says, "You are free to think differently from me, and to
retain your life, your property, and all that you possess; but if
such be your determination, you are henceforth an alien along your people.

You may retain your civil rights, but they will be useless to you, for you will
never be chosen by your fellow-citizens, if you solicit their suffrages;
and they will affect to scorn you, if you solicit their esteem.

You will remain among men, but you like an impure being; and those who are mostly
persuaded of your innocence will abandon you too, lest they should be
shunned in their turn."

---

SPicy but perspicacious, eh?

A