Abraham Lincoln in this Gettysburg Address described democracy as 'government of the people by the people for the people ' but all government is government of the people; and a benevolent despotism , as much as a democracy, may be government for (i.e. in the interests of)the people , though the political experience of Europe, if not perhaps always of Asia, leads one to doubt whether a despotism can for long remain benevolent. the essential idea of democratic government is government by the people . strictly speaking , government by all the people should mean unanimcus decision . but this, of course , is impossible in political matters.Democracy in practice has to mean following the view of the majority. perhaps Lincoln's additiont of 'for the people ' means, as in rousseau's theory of the general will, that of majority, should seek to serve the interests of all even though it does not have the agreement of all ; otherwise there is the danger , somuch feared by be tocqueville and john stuart mill, that majority rule may become majority tyranny