Full Idea
Universal suffrage is by no means a guarantee of the wisdom of the popular choice.
Gist of Idea
Universal suffrage is no guarantee of wise choices
Source
Alexis de Tocqueville (Democracy in America (abr Renshaw) [1840], 1.11)
A Reaction
This was precisely Plato's fear about democracy. There seems no way at all of preventing the people from electing representatives on superficial grounds of personality.
Book Reference
Tocqueville,Alexis de: 'Democracy in America (abridged)', ed/tr. Renshaw,Patrick [Wordsworth 1998], p.83