=Defects of Direct Legislation.=—But there are arguments on the other side as well; and these also can be arranged under four headings. 1. _Direct legislation weakens the civil rights of the individual._ These rights are embodied in the state constitutions for the purpose of preserving them. But if a majority of the voters can change these constitutions at any time, there is no longer any distinction between constitutions and laws. This means that there is no special protection for the rights of property, for free speech, or for freedom of worship. A majority can ride rough-shod over a minority at any time. 2. _Direct legislation is usually the work of a majority in name only._ Not more than eighty per cent of the people regularly cast their ballots on election day; the proportion is often much smaller. Of those who go to the polls many do not vote on all the questions. The result is that measures are frequently ratified by the votes of only thirty or forty per cent of the whole electorate, in other words by a distinct minority. The alleged “rule of the majority” thus becomes a fiction, not a fact. 3. _Direct legislation results in appeals to public prejudice and leads to demagogism._ When measures are submitted to the people the discussion is not confined to the merits of the proposed laws. The supporters and opponents alike appeal to the prejudice and the self-interest of the voters. The demagogue uses his opportunity to the fullest extent, thus inflaming bitterness between different classes among the people. There is no opportunity for calm deliberation or compromise as in the legislative halls. The voters can only say Yes or No. They must take the measure as it stands or reject it entirely. As a rule, moreover, the man who is ready to say Yes or No to any public question can be set down as one who has given very little thought to the subject. 4. _Direct legislation tends to break down the whole system of representative government._ It divides the responsibility for lawmaking, encourages the election of less efficient representatives, and places upon the people a task which they cannot intelligently perform. The voters will not, and cannot, fully inform themselves about the merits and defects of ten, twenty, or thirty different questions on the ballot. It is absurd, the opponents of direct legislation declare, to submit a long list of questions to the voters when thousands of these voters are not even able to read or write.[32] [Sidenote: Which are the stronger?]