Such is
wholly their role, and, if any amongst them, with more energy,
desires to depart from it, he has no hold on the commune which,
according to the Constitution, he has to direct, and on that armed
force which is entrusted to him with a view to insure the observance
of the laws.
To insure respect for authority, indeed, it must not spring up on
the spot and under the hands of its subordinates. It loses its
prestige and independence when those who create it are precisely
those who have to submit to it. For, in submitting to it, they
remember that they have created it. This or that candidate among
them who has but lately solicited their suffrages is now a
magistrate who issues orders, and this sudden transformation is
their work. It is with difficulty that they pass from the role of
sovereign electors to that of docile subjects of the administration,
and recognize a commander in one of their own creatures.[25] On the
contrary, they will submit to his control only in their own fashion,
reserving to themselves in practice the powers the right to which
they have conferred on him.
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