Modern-day politicians often gauge their success on their approval ratings–what percentage of the public thinks they are doing a good job. One might think that this obsession with having the approval of the people is a relatively new phenomenon, related to the presence of television and other media that let people know what their government officials are doing all the time. Even back in Elizabethan England, however, the queen often talked about the importance of having the approval of her people:
“One special favor yet I must confess I have just cause to vaunt of: that whereas variety and love of change is ever so rife in servants to their masters, in children to their parents, and in private friends to one another . . . yet still I find that assured zeal amongst my faithful subjects, to my special comfort, which was first declared to my great encouragement. Can a prince which of necessity must discontent a number to delight and please a few continue so long a time without great offense, much mislike, or common grudge? Or haps it often that princes’ actions are conceived in so good part and favorably interpreted?”
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