In either case, Mr. Cole assumes that society can be carried on by a
social contract based on an accepted idea of "distinct essential
groups of functions." How does one recognize these distinct essential
groups? So far as I can make out, Mr. Cole thinks that a function is
what a group of people are interested in. "The essence of functional
democracy is that a man should count as many times over as there are
functions in which he is interested." [Footnote: _Social Theory,_
p. 102 _et seq._] Now there are at least two meanings to the word
interested. You can use it to mean that a man is involved, or that his
mind is occupied. John Smith, for example, may have been tremendously
interested in the Stillman divorce case. He may have read every word
of the news in every lobster edition. On the other hand, young Guy
Stillman, whose legitimacy was at stake, probably did not trouble
himself at all. John Smith was interested in a suit that did not
affect his "interests," and Guy was uninterested in one that would
determine the whole course of his life. Mr. Cole, I am afraid, leans
towards John Smith. He is answering the "very foolish objection" that
to vote by functions is to be voting very often: "If a man is not
interested enough to vote, and cannot be aroused to interest enough to
make him vote, on, say, a dozen distinct subjects, he waives his right
to vote and the result is no less democratic than if he voted blindly
and without interest.
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