But the most important thing that a student of government ought to know about any state is whether it merely possesses the forms of democracy or whether the people in fact control the government. Nearly all present-day states have the external forms of democracy, that is to say, they have representative legislatures or parliaments which bulk large in the general scheme of government. But as to the actualities of democracy, the extent to which these representative bodies really direct and control the affairs of state, there is a considerable difference among the nations. A classification of states from this point of view can be made only after a careful study of their actual governments. It is not the form of government which makes a democracy, but the way in which popular control of public affairs is actually secured and sustained. [Sidenote: The spread of democracy.] =Is Democracy the Best Form of Government?=—During the past few years democracy has been rapidly gaining ground. The governments of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and other countries have been reconstructed in such way as to give them, outwardly at any rate, the rank of democratic states. But in spite of this phenomenal progress, which came on the heels of the World War, it remains a fact that more than half the population of the world is still living under systems of government which the people do not control. The world has not yet been made safe for democracy, nor half of it. This suggests the question whether democracy is the best form of government for all races and under all circumstances. Is it best for backward races, for races only partly civilized? Is it the best system for people who have had very little political experience, such as the Egyptians, the Chinese, and the Filipinos? Are we quite certain, in fact, that it is the best form of government for fully civilized mankind? Most people have always felt sure that democracy is the nearest approach to an ideal form of government, but if you ask their reasons for this belief, you will frequently find that they have never thought of any reasons. Democracy has been and is being severely criticized by various writers who declare that it merely places political power in the hands of the ignorant and unthinking masses, that it leads to wastefulness, extravagance, and corruption, that it fosters incompetence in public office, and that it results in woeful misgovernment.[18]