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It is important to note the difference between "Best of the Public" and "mob rule."  Simply allowing the loudest or most numerous voices to prevail is not the same thing as allowing the best of the public to drive achievement.  Sites such as [[Wikipedia]] operate on the principle of mob rule, and as a result, are plagued with bias, inaccuracy, and an inability to differentiate between significant insights and trivia.   

It is important to note the difference between "Best of the Public" and "mob rule."  Simply allowing the loudest or most numerous voices to prevail is not the same thing as allowing the best of the public to drive achievement.  Sites such as [[Wikipedia]] operate on the principle of mob rule, and as a result, are plagued with bias, inaccuracy, and an inability to differentiate between significant insights and trivia.   

One of the most pointed illustrations of this difference is the [[United States]] itself.  The [[Founding Fathers]], despite not naming it, applied the "Best of the Public" principle in their attempts to craft a new government.  Realizing the danger of mob rule, they rejected a pure democracy in favor of a democratic Republic--a system designed to ensure that, while all of the public would have a voice in their new government, the best of the public would guide that government as elected representatives.   In so doing, they clearly affirmed that they believed the best of the public was better than a group of experts; in contrast, the nations of Europe still firmly subscribed to the notion that government should be in the hands of elite "experts" (the ruling families and nobility.)

One of the most pointed illustrations of this difference is the [[United States]] itself.  The [[Founding Fathers]], despite not naming it, applied the "Best of the Public" principle in their attempts to craft a new government.  Realizing the danger of mob rule, they rejected a pure democracy in favor of a democratic Republic--a system designed to ensure that, while all of the public would have a voice in their new government, the best of the public would guide that government.  To insure that only the best of the public was selected, with the exception of members of the [[U.S. House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], officials in the federal government were not directly elected.  The framers of the [[U.S. Constitution]] conceived of the [[Electoral College]] as a body of men who would exercise independent judgement in choosing the [[President of the United States|President]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]], not merely cast their ballots as directed by their state's voters. Moreover, electors in most states were initially appointed by state legislatures. Likewise, members of the [[U.S. Senate|Senate]] were originally selected by state legislatures.  Judges, ambassadors and other federal officials are chosen by the President and subject to approval by the Senate.  Thus, although the people would directly choose their Congressmen, they would only indirectly choose other officials, and this filtering mechanism would ensure that only the best of the public was in charge of the government, rather than having mob rule.  

 

By choosing this compromise, they clearly affirmed that they believed the best of the public was better than a group of experts; in contrast, the nations of Europe still firmly subscribed to the notion that government should be in the hands of elite "experts" (the ruling families and nobility.)

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