Earlier quoted context omitted.
You should judge a people if they fancy themsevles a democracy (especially if they think their democracy is so good it deserves to be "exported" to other countries!)
and should you judge the people if they fancy themselves a federal republic?
This comes in constrast to say North Korea, China or Lybia. If their government does something outrageous, one can blame the people to some extent, but they should also get plenty of slack since standing up and otherthrowing the leadership would take a lot lives, blood, and suffering. It is not just a walk to the voting booth.
In general one can argue that the people of a country should be the responsability for their government's action in proportion to their ability to influence that government's actions.