This article makes me think of a story I read a while ago. Benjamin Franklin is accosted by a woman as he walked out of the Constitutional Convention. The woman asks what form of government the new nation has. He replies, "A republic, if you can keep it."
Later he expanded on that thought with the statement (I'm going to paraphrase) that when people aren't responsible enough, the republic ends and despotism takes over. (If anyone wants the actual quote, it won't be hard to find.)