Forced To Be Free

In order then that the social compact may not be an empty formula, it tacitly includes the undertaking, which alone can give force to the rest, that whoever refuses to obey the general will shall be compelled to do so by the whole body. This means nothing less than that he will be forced to be free; for this is the condition which, by giving each citizen to his country, secures him against all personal dependence. In this lies the key to the working of the political machine; this alone legitimizes civil undertakings, which, without it, would be absurd, tyrannical, and liable to the most frightful abuses.

— J. J. Rousseau, Social Contract (Contrat Social)

An interesting idea. Democracy can work only if the citizens are free, without personal dependence. Unfortunately we are moving the opposite direction nowadays. Politicians buy votes and doing that make people dependent. That way they make citizens unsuitable to take part in democracy which literary means the rule of the people. Their main objective objective should be the opposite, to lead people to personal freedom so they are able to exercise the rule for the common good.