“There are various systems of government. The best is theocracy, which is government by divine guidance … .
“At this point in Nephite history it was thought wise to shift to the rule of judges, a form of democracy. … Mosiah counseled, ‘it is not common that that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right.’
“‘Governments are only good when the people are good. As founding father John Adams observed, “Our constitution was made for a moral people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” [Federer, America’s God and Country, 10–11]’ [Bytheway, Righteous Warriors, 33–34].
“Liberty demands responsibility. Democracy can function optimally only on a foundation of decency among citizens” (Ogden and Skinner, Book of Mormon, 1:380; paragraphing altered).