''Notes on Democracy'' is a 1926 book by American journalist, satirist, cultural critic H. L. Mencken. The initial print run was only 235 copies; another edition was printed later in 1926. A number of reprints of the book have continued to be issued, with editions released in 2008 and 2012.

Synopsis and impact

''Notes on Democracy'' is a critique of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

. The book places political leaders into two categories: the

demagogue A demagogue (from Greek , a popular leader, a leader of a mob, from , people, populace, the commons + leading, leader) or rabble-rouser is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, e ...

, who "preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots" and the demaslave, "who listens to what these idiots have to say and then pretends that he believes it himself." Mencken depicts politicians as "men who have sold their honor for their jobs."

Reception

Writing for ''

The Saturday Review of Literature ''Saturday Review'', previously ''The Saturday Review of Literature'', was an American weekly magazine established in 1924. Norman Cousins was the editor from 1940 to 1971. Under Norman Cousins, it was described as "a compendium of reportage, ess ...

'' Walter Lippmann described the book as a "tremendous polemic" which "destroy by rendering it ridiculous and unfashionable, the democratic tradition of the American pioneers" and likens ''Notes on Democracy'' to ''

The Social Contract ''The Social Contract'', originally published as ''On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Right'' (french: Du contrat social; ou, Principes du droit politique), is a 1762 French-language book by the Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques ...

'' by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, but Lippmann also criticizes Mencken by saying "The chief weakness of the book, as a book of ideas, arises out of this naive contrast in Mr. Mencken’s mind between the sordid reality he knows and the splendid society he imagines.".

References

External links

* Full text of
Notes on Democracy
' at the Internet Archive * {{H. L. Mencken 1926 non-fiction books Books about democracy Books by H. L. Mencken Books in political philosophy Alfred A. Knopf books