Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.

Harris contrasts democracy with systems that treat authority as self-justifying. In his formulation, democracy’s defining habit is continual scrutiny: it not only recognizes that “powers that be” exist, but insists on testing whether those powers are legitimate, accountable, and morally warranted. The line highlights democracy as an ongoing process rather than a settled structure—an arrangement that institutionalizes doubt, criticism, and the possibility of replacement through public judgment. It also implies that civic health depends on citizens and institutions repeatedly re-evaluating leaders, laws, and entrenched interests, rather than accepting them as inevitable. The quote thus frames democracy as a culture of questioning authority, not merely a method of selecting rulers.