There are some things the general public does not need to know and shouldn’t. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets, and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows.
There is so much corruption on so many levels of democracy that the common man is deprived of the basic rights.
Sure, I considered myself an anarchist; I considered myself – I still am, obviously – distrustful of the government. But I also understand the virtues of civility or democracy and kindness, of course. I wasn’t throwing garbage cans through shop windows.
Obama’s openness is a welcome change from his predecessor, who went all the way to the Supreme Court to hide the RSVP list for a single policy meeting. And transparency is intrinsically good, since in a democracy, very little government activity is legitimately secret.
Britain is a parliamentary democracy. Power rests in Parliament, in the House of Commons, and the government – the executive – has to seek the consent of MPs for its legislation.
Our Founding Fathers who created this republic did not believe in democracy. When did we come to worship this idol?
The rule of law is the basis for any democracy. And without the rule of law in democracy, you have chaos.
I’m an American. We’ve translated democracy and brotherhood and equality into enterprise and opportunity and success – and that’s getting Americanised.
America must be the teacher of democracy, not the advertiser of the consumer society. It is unrealistic for the rest of the world to reach the American living standard.
Without the power of the Industrial Union behind it, Democracy can only enter the State as the victim enters the gullet of the Serpent.
The House Rules Committee is perhaps the free world’s outstanding bureaucratic abomination – a tiny, airless closet deep in the labyrinth of the Capitol where some of the very meanest people on earth spend their days cleaning democracy like a fish.
As we talk with candour, we open the doors to new possibilities and new areas of cooperation in advance in democracy, in combating terrorism, in energy and environment, science and technology and international peacekeeping.
Democracy is not just about voting but about informed voting. If democracy doesn’t have access to reliable sources of information and instead relies on social proof, then there is no way of distinguishing between junk evidence and actual knowledge.
The US constitution’s First Amendment rights only cover Americans, but I believe that in a democracy the competition of ideas and free speech should combat beliefs that it does not agree with – more speech and debate, not censorship.
Our brave soldiers and support personnel are engaged in a battle as important as any the United States has ever before waged, for the success of democracy in Iraq is a crucial test of the ideals this Nation was founded upon.
Democracy may have arisen in the West as the way of striving for the universal aspiration to dignity and freedom, but it isn’t alien to the underlying concepts that infuse religion and moral philosophy everywhere.
The issue is whether the ultimate civil authority of the United States can tolerate actions in contempt of constitutional lines of authority. Any lessening of civil power over military power must inevitably lead away from democracy.
The struggle for equality is really a struggle for democracy, and that’s why it’s a struggle for all the population.
Democracy, it appears, is a bit chancy. But its chances also depend on what we do ourselves.
There is so much that can be done, you see, the assembly is about improving our democracy.
Our democracy is designed to speak truth to power.
In Venezuela, we either accept domination, total oppression and torture… from Maduro’s regime, or we choose freedom, democracy, and prosperity for our people.
One could always do more, faster and cleverer, but democracy has its own rhythm.
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.
If a jerk burns the flag, America is not threatened, democracy is not under siege, freedom is not at risk.
You know, we’re taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected.
I’ve always said that the more coordinated the efforts of the international community are, the better it will be for democracy in Burma.
Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse.
At the time of the Civil War, there were six democracies in the face of the planet. Today, there’s 120 and they’ve been inspired by the American exceptionalism.
Democracy is the art of thinking independently together.
We’ve become, now, an oligarchy instead of a democracy. I think that’s been the worst damage to the basic moral and ethical standards to the American political system that I’ve ever seen in my life.
The Constitution is worth saving, the rule of law is worth saving, democracy is worth saving, but these things can and will be lost if everyone waits around for someone else.
However, I must say that I am very happy to see that we have such a positive result for our first referendum in our history and that gives me more confidence in Taiwan’s democracy.
For politicians to be honest, the public needs to allow them to be honest, and the media, which mediates between the politicians and the public, needs to allow those politicians to be honest. If local democracy is to flourish, it is about the active and informed engagement of every citizen.
A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won’t cross the street to vote in a national election.
The risk of a terrorist victory is greater when in fighting terror, democracy betrays its own essence.
Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.
Reading and writing, like everything else, improve with practice. And, of course, if there are no young readers and writers, there will shortly be no older ones. Literacy will be dead, and democracy – which many believe goes hand in hand with it – will be dead as well.
Freedom of speech is a human right and the foundation upon which democracy is built. Any restriction of freedom of speech is a restriction upon democracy.
Dialogue between people of differing views is critical for fostering understanding in a democracy.
Speaking as a Democrat, all my life battling for what I conceived to be Democracy, and what I conceived to be right, I am yet an American above Democracy.
Liberty, freedom and democracy are very fuzzy words, but human rights is very specific.
It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it; consequently, the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.
Democracies succeed or fail based on their journalism.
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.
In a democracy there will always be a tension between security and privacy.
Bosses are no more inevitable in state and local governments than dictators are in national governments. They will arise and prosper, nevertheless, if true believers of democracy – citizens devoted to the democratic ideals – do not constantly oppose them.
I think our politicians are bought by the highest bidder and that until we clean up our election system, then we cannot make progress on any of the issues. That’s what drives me – we must restore our democracy.
Informed by our sad experience of history, we require nothing short of a foundation for lasting democracy.
