One of the advantages of democracy, from the governmental point of view, is that it makes the average citizen easier to deceive, since he regards the government as his government. Opposition to a war which is not swiftly successful arises much less readily in a democracy than under any other form of constitution.
Source： Bertrand Russell: Power, 1938.
More info.：https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER09_090.HTM
Even in democratic countries, governments often try to conceal inconvenient truths. Therefore, if citizens do not carefully monitor their governments, the public's right to know may be undermined before they even realize it.
In the United States, important matters are always documented and preserved securely in the National Archives. As a result, government falsehoods are often brought to light later on, making historical scrutiny institutionally possible.
In contrast, in Japan, it is not uncommon for inconvenient matters to go undocumented, or for official records to be concealed, falsified, or claimed not to exist, which often makes historical verification difficult.
For example, it later came to light that Prime Ministers Koizumi and Abe (during their respective terms in office) made factually inaccurate statements on several important issues. However, by the time these facts were revealed, they had either retired from office long before or had passed away, leaving the truth insufficiently investigated.
Today's quote from Russell could also be seen as an example of the "paradox of democracy." The most well-known paradox of this kind is the ironic observation that "the most successful politician in a democracy is the one who manages to abolish democracy through democratic means" ? Adolf Hitler being the most cited case.
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