 However, unlike many classical and contemporary democratic theorists, neoliberals do not see democracy as involving a social ethos or national culture, nor do they see democracy as an expression of freedom in itself. As Hayek (1979: 5) notes, “democracy itself is not freedom”. Friedman insists that freedom is to be understood negatively, such that the political process is understood as restricting freedom and perhaps protecting it, but not as embodying it. Buchanan also criticizes what he regarded as an essentially “romantic” view of democracy according to which the will of the people is expressed in the actions of a democratic government.