Democracy is still on its trial, but so far it has not disgraced itself; it is true that its full force has not yet come into operation, and this for two causes, one more or less permanent in its effect, the other of a more transient nature. In the first place, whatever be the numerical representation of wealth, its power will always be out of all proportion; and secondly, the defective organisation of the newly enfranchised classes has prevented any overwhelming alteration in the preexisting balance of power.
Contemporary politics is reenacting the past. Resurrecting the Popular Front of yesteryear is fast becoming the Left’s chosen form of restoration. What to make of that? What was the Popular Front as social movement and in mythic memory? How would today’s version, assuming it materializes, compare?
It’s an elusive subject. Some opening assumptions — in part unexceptionable, in part contrarian — may clarify the approach adopted here.
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