Al Smith invoked direct democracy to defeat Moses’ enemies

Evidence

I am laying it before them in plain everyday language and I am leaving it to them to serve notice on their servants and representatives in the Legislature just exactly what their wishes are,” he said. “The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy. Let us battle it out right in the shadow of the capitol itself and let us have a decision, and let us not permit the impression to go abroad that wealth and the power that wealth can command can palsy the arm of the state.” — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 860

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Smith’s rhetoric ‘The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy’ is a striking inversion of the usual formulation and shows how a politician facing legislative opposition can bypass it by appealing directly to the public — a tactic Caro later shows Moses himself deploying.
• XREF: connects to: Al Smith’s closeness to Robert Moses stemmed from recognizing a fellow master of government — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 575

Broader Connections

• Al Smith’s closeness to Robert Moses stemmed from recognizing a fellow master of government #complicates (0.75) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 575