If all power is in the people, if there is no higher law than their will, and if by counting their votes, their will may be ascertained - then the people may entrust all their power to anyone, and the power of the pretender and the usurper is then legitimate. It is not to be challenged since it came originally from the sovereign people.

The Essential Lippmann: A Political Philosophy for Liberal Democracy (ed. Harvard University Press, 1982) - ISBN: 9780674267756