Note 27 — Chapter XVI · THE SECOND-CHAMBER PROBLEM[21]

“A majority in a single assembly, when it has assumed a permanent character—when composed of the same persons habitually acting together, and always assured of victory in their own House—easily becomes despotic and overweening, if released from the necessity of considering whether its acts will be concurred in by another constituted authority. The same reason which induced the Romans to have two consuls, makes it desirable there should be two chambers; that neither of them may be exposed to the corrupting influence of undivided power, even for the space of a single year.”