The second section of the Estates encompasses the changing element in civil society, which can play its part only by means of deputies; the external reason for this is the sheer number of its members, but the essential reason lies in the nature of its determination and activity. In so far as these deputies are elected by civil society, it is immediately evident that, in electing them, society acts as what it is. That is, it is not split up into individual atomic units which are merely assembled for a moment to perform a single temporary act and have no further cohesion; on the contrary, it is articulated into its associations, communities and corporations which, although they are already in being, acquire in this way a political connotation.

Democracy in America is a system in which its adult members step into booths or other private rooms to register their opinions of who should lead them. This is the meaning of democracy: Individuals can punch chads, pull levers, and darken ovals to select their leadership.