The most famous quotes in praise of democracy do not make a principled case for it. If, as Winston Churchill claimed, it is the worst form of government bar all the others “that have been tried”, then verifiable outcomes are what matter. “No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy,” found the economist Amartya Sen, implying, once more, that utility is the test. Popular self-rule is to be preferred because it allows for better results, not because it is right in and of itself.
赞美民主制度的最著名引语，并未给民主制度提供一个有原则的充分理由。假设正如温斯顿•丘吉尔(Winston Churchill)所言，民主是最糟糕的政府形式——除了其他所有“已被尝试过的”制度之外，那么可验证的结果才是真正重要的。manbetx20客户端下载 学家阿玛蒂亚•森(Amartya Sen)指出：“在世界历史上，运转正常的民主国家从未发生过饥荒。”这再次暗示，实际效果才是检验标准。民众的自治会受到青睐，是因为它可以带来更好的结果，而不是因为它本身是正确的。