And government (to define it de facto, or according to modern prudence) is an art whereby some man, or some few men, subject a city or a nation, and rule it according to his or their private interest; which, because the laws in such cases are made according to the interest of a man, or of some few families, may be said to be the empire of men, and not of laws.
James Harrington, J. G. A. Pocock (1992). “Harrington: 'The Commonwealth of Oceana' and 'A System of Politics'”, p.9, Cambridge University Press
