Note 825 — Chapter XII · THE STATE (C) PHILOSOPHY OF POLITICS
Charles Francis Atkinson translation
The German Constitution of 1919—standing by virtue of its date on the verge of the decline of democracy—most naïvely admits a dictature of the party machines, which have attracted all rights into themselves and are seriously responsible to no one. The notorious system of proportional election and the Reichslist [see Ency. Brit., 1922 Supplement, II, 249.—Tr.] secures their self-recruitment. In place of the “people’s” rights, which were axiomatic in the Frankfurt Constitution of 1848, there is now only the right of parties, which, harmless as it sounds, really nurses within itself a Cæsarism of the organizations. It must be allowed, however, that in this respect it is the most advanced of all the constitutions. Its issue is visible already. A few quite small alterations and it confers unrestricted power upon individuals.