Witness The Decline of France:
The right to assemble is a pillar of free society. But in France it’s the only pillar its citizens seem to take seriously. So much so that any public debate of import gets conducted in the streets rather than through the ballot box or institutions of a purportedly mature democracy.In less enlightened societies, as opposed to the birthplace of the Enlightenment, that’s usually called mob rule. But the violent street demonstrations roiling France’s cities today, and the unhappy career prospects of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, are the latest symptoms of an ailing democracy.