A people properly educated and sharing a progressive intellectual life are capable of operating institutions that a less developed people would be unable to accept. Government should make people better, and it does this by educating people and encouraging the use of their best qualities. Representative government is an important institution. It is instrumental in promoting the best qualities in people, by protecting individual rights and promoting a civilization that nurtures progressive values. Government should be limited, as all liberals believe.
Democracy is a good thing, but representative institutions keep it in check.
The factions that arise under popular government stimulate individual thought and actions. In a limited government final victory by one social interest over another is difficult. The working class and the owning class had to, somehow, work out a balance of interests. The full essay is rather long, and contains arguments about the methods we use for settling questions about policy. When people are adequately educated, they will value personal freedom, integrity, self-respect, and the progress that comes from a healthy exchange of ideas.