It is inevitable that, in time of war, the greater concentration of power necessary for the efficient prosecution of the war should lead to the abandonment of certain of the constitutional rules and traditional practices of popular government. It is possible that the new measures introduced under the cover of war, the new methods of social and economic policy which are now coming into use, not only serve the special requirements of a war-time economy but correspond as well to the lasting needs of a changed society. It is not the purpose of this inquiry to say whether these new methods are good or bad in themselves, permanent or temporary, nor am I concerned here with the conflict between them and individual liberties; I wish to discuss only how far they are compatible with popular government and how far it may be necessary to adapt its system to changed conditions. For though established institutions have a way of making their own adaptations to circumstances in the course of time, some conscious and considered human guidance may aid in the progress.

First, both the traditional forms of popular government and the new policies, which constitute its novel activities, need some defining. Popular government, in the English-speaking world, rests on the two-party system by which one party is in power and the other in opposition. Although the two-party system is not the only form of democracy, it is the one that has shown itself on the whole to be the most stable, lasting, and extensive.