The practice of political democracy to-day is practically limited to two main groups of nations--the English-speaking and the Latin. Of the latter group, Spain alone tarries in the Middle Ages. Besides these we have Holland and the three Scandinavian countries, which, while ruled by kings, are democratic in both thought and practice. In a previous chapter we have described the pitiful surrender of the German people to absolute monarchy and state socialism, and their recent trembling efforts toward freedom, as well as the sad miscarriage of the attempted democratic revolution in Russia. Beyond the limits of Europe, the two Americas, and English-speaking colonies over seas, there is little enough hope for the growth of democracy anywhere in the immediate future. The most fulsome optimism can not expect the Chinese republic to succeed in our day. For a long time in the future, as in the past, the "white man's burden" is going to include practically the whole of Asia and Africa. The limitations of democracy are set by many considerations. These involve first the state of biological evolution in which a particular race finds itself; second, the particular history of the particular country under discussion. The African Negro can not realize democracy to-day because he is psychically, and hence morally unfitted for its responsibilities. The cause here is biological. The German people are the first cousins of the English, being much the same in blood. The difference between the two peoples are not biological, but historical. Democracy in practice requires certain mental and moral qualities. The most outstanding among these are intellectual acumen and a knowledge of public affairs. Among the moral essentials are a spirit of good sportsmanship, a profound regard for the rules of common honesty, and above all, a fine sense of personal honor. Democracy must be based upon character. Every qualification we have mentioned necessitates a large measure of economic freedom; for without this, the individual is enslaved and driven in things political. They imply, also, freedom from tyranny of intermeddling by any religious power. Unity of church and state, or the interference in politics by a religious organization for ulterior purposes, makes true democracy impossible. The individual citizen must always have perfect freedom of political choice. For the masses in any nation to acquire these qualities is to place that nation in the very front rank of the world's political civilization.