Down with the people

摘要

Since the first three words of the preamble to the United States' constitution thundered into the world's political lexicon, "the people" has been one of the favourite invocations of those in, or in pursuit of, power. It has also been one of the most abused. No state has been as undemocratic or unpopular as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola has paid more attention to liberating the country's assets into its leaders' foreign bank accounts than to freeing Angolans from the oppression of poverty. In the media the formula signals a determination to ignore popular taste: the People's Daily makes no more effort to appeal to its Chinese readers than Pravda did to tell the truth to its Soviet ones. So when Downing Street frames the election Britons are expecting as "Parliament versus the people", the people should beware.