Grapes from Thorns and Figs from Thistles

The debate about the presidency has led to mounting demands for choosing the president through popular vote. Supporters of the proposal say that democracy is now sufficiently deep rooted to make the change. The electoral system for the presidency was chosen to avoid the kind of pitfalls that marked Germany's last venture in democracy, the Weimar Republic, in the aftermath of World War I, which actually cnbaled Hitler to become dictator through constitutional means.