You can't always get what you want

Recently I have been told that "In a democracy people get the government they deserve" which is a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville and is an often used quote to explain why democratic governments are as bad as they are. Clearly the quote could be used to explain good government but firstly people seldom think that their government is any good and secondly if they do they will tend to point to the leader or the party philosophy as the reason for the "good governance" rather than the system that created the government.

I first must admit to not being an expert on de Tocqueville and nor have I read any of his books, however a quick internet search reveals that he lived in France from 1805 to 1859 and the quote above comes from his books on America where he was observing the birth of a new form of government practiced in a way that was completely different from the land of his birth.
As he seemed to admire the way America was unfolding I suspect the quote was phrased in the positive i.e. that finally the people will get a government that they deserve rather than the tyrany of Europe where politics and government were dominated by an aristocratic elite.

It is ironic that the period in which this man lived and the emerging democracy of America were really a period of power dominated by the elite (including America) and his comments now being used to justify a system of mediocre government dominated by the masses.

Democracy as currently practised seems to me to be mostly about the tyranny of the majority with some checks and balances to make sure this doesn't go to far. It is odd that for government we believe that "might is right" i.e. no matter how stupid your ideas or policies are if you can persuade enough people to your point of view then you are justified in implimenting this policy. This would be the only area of society where we think this is a good rule. In the playground we call it bullying, in the workplace we have laws to regulate the might of employers etc.

A small example would be the dog chipping law which requires all dogs to be microchipped. This was in response as we remember to a young girl being savagely mauled by a dog (or possibly two I can't recall). It was universally approved of by "the majority" however any short period of reflection will demonstrate that this measure will do absolutely nothing to prevent dogs bitting people and as there has been other incidents since this is clear. Yet "the majority" agreed this was a sensible idea. "The minority" eg dog owners lost out and had a silly law inflicted on them.

As we all end up in various minorities depending on the issue I am not sure we "get the government we deserve" but rather the government other people thrust upon us. Do I deserve to be ruled by a generally uneducated boorish majority or... well the or that is another question entirely.