Democracy must learn to defend itself.
If a man went simply by what he saw, he might be tempted to affirm that the essence of democracy is melodrama.
There is an idea of democracy produced by one-sided thinking.
Democracies must have equilibrium… and the entanglement of politics and information must be minimized.
Democracy is when the people keep a government in check.
We should insist that governments receiving American aid live up to standards of accountability and transparency, and we should support countries that embrace market reforms, democracy, and the rule of law.
In a democracy everybody has a right to be represented, including the jerks.
I really think a minority Parliament delivers better democracy in Canada when parties are prepared to cooperate.
The New Order wants to implement democracy in economy. It is an order to achieve a social, political, economic, and cultural society with Pancasila and Belief in God Almighty as our moral values.
We have accepted the principle of democracy and we are committed to respect the popular verdict and the result of that national consultation.
Republicans are pushing legislation forward that will improve the effectiveness of and bring more accountability to U.S. foreign assistance around the world and bring democracy even further into the light.
Democracy as a system has evolved into something that Thomas Jefferson didn’t anticipate.
I want people to learn what democracy means.
Democracy is a political method, that is to say, a certain type of institutional arrangement for arriving at political – legislative and administrative – decisions and hence incapable of being an end in itself.
Reading builds the educated and informed electorate so vital to our democracy.
Tax avoidance and evasion by the rich undermine democracy by starving social programs and public services. They also send a message to ordinary citizens that the rules of the economic game are rigged against them.
Robert Moses wasn’t elected to anything. We’re taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected. He had more power than anyone, and he held it for 48 years.
Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.
We have shown that Islam can rule the world perfectly for 14 centuries, and during this time of Muslim power we did not borrow ideas like democracy from others, so why do we need to learn democracy from them now?
Noam Chomsky has a book, which I read for the first time when I was in Spain, called ‘Fear of Democracy’. There is your answer. Fear of democracy. In Honduras, they had a sham democracy. It was run by elites, what was called a liberal democracy, but in reality was a false democracy.
We have, essentially, a worthless democracy.
And when they do spin out of control there are important ramifications that affect America, not just its direct national interest but its broader interests as a nation which has thought of itself as a beacon to other nations, of freedom, liberty, democracy, whatever.
It is not true at all that a free market will ensure a democracy. It doesn’t. There must be a balance between a free market and some regulations which are essential in order to safeguard the interests of consumers and of people in general.
I really don’t think we’ve become a plutocracy, but I worry about the enormous influence that money has in a democracy such as ours.
Democracy is the road to socialism.
A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be democratic. No country can be really well prepared for modern war unless it is governed by a tyrant, at the head of a highly trained and perfectly obedient bureaucracy.
We know that if we’re going to remain economically competitive in the world, and viable as a civic democracy, that we’re going to have to get more people educated to higher levels.
Colonialism subdues in many dulcet guises. It conquered under the pretext of spreading Christianity, civilization, law and order, to make the world safe for democracy.
I am more convinced than ever that a lively two party system is essential to our democracy.
I have always believed that genuine democracy is fairness.
We’re not going back anywhere, we’re going forward, we’re going forward in democracy, we’re going forward in participation, we’re going forward with ideas.
It is a paradox that far too few Americans participate in the wonderful ritual of democracy that we call Election Day.
Socialism’s not a word that I use. I say ‘social democracy’ because I don’t think the government needs to own all the means of production.
We need to give the Iraqis a chance to build their own future. It should be in their hands. It must be in their hands. That is what democracy is all about. We can teach it, we can explain it, but they must want it enough to make it work for them.
Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.
I think that the failure of newspaper competition in a community is a very serious handicap to the dissemination of the knowledge that the citizens need to participate in a democracy.
Christianity is the root of all democracy, the highest fact in the rights of men.
As I reflect on the successes and failures of our push for democracy, reading widely in search for a path out of authoritarian rule, I’ll keep writing to encourage myself and those on my side.
To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.
Concentration of executive power, unless it’s very temporary and for specific circumstances, let’s say fighting world war two, it’s an assault on democracy.
And that is my definition of democracy, the right to be in a minority and not be suppressed.
Nobody and nothing will stop Russia on the road to strengthening democracy and ensuring human rights and freedoms.
Here’s what I don’t think works: An economic system that was founded in the 16th century and another that was founded in the 19th century. I’m tired of this discussion of capitalism and socialism; we live in the 21st century; we need an economic system that has democracy as its underpinnings and an ethical code.
Democracy is not a spectator sport, it’s a participatory event. If we don’t participate in it, it ceases to be a democracy.
There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.
I am convinced that the majority of American people do understand that we have a moral responsibility to foster the concepts of opportunity, free enterprise, the rule of law, and democracy. They understand that these values are the hope of the world.
Liberal democracy must finally become the vital element of our society.
The potential for the abuse of power through digital networks – upon which we the people now depend for nearly everything, including our politics – is one of the most insidious threats to democracy in the Internet age.
The international community can’t trust such a government. If the government of Iran wants the international community to believe in what it says, it should try to bring true, pure democracy into the country. The political solution to the energy issue or the nuclear case is democracy in Iran.
Neoliberalism considers the discourse of equality, justice, and democracy quaint, if not dangerous and must be either trivialized, turned into its Orwellian opposite, or eviscerated from public life.
We want to be a country with a competitive edge in the world. And a country with a solid democracy. To do that, we need to attack the social problems, and extreme poverty is probably the worst of those.
Democracy not only requires equality but also an unshakable conviction in the value of each person, who is then equal.
Liberals are concerned about the concentration of wealth because it almost inevitably leads to a concentration of power that undermines democracy.
I confess I enjoy democracy immensely. It is incomparably idiotic, and hence incomparably amusing.
Without democracy there is no freedom. Violence, no matter who is using it, is always reactionary.
The Paris Commune was first and foremost a democracy. The government was a body elected by universal suffrage.
Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention. Most of all, democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn’t matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest.
I think we need to just be very clear about what we’re trying to do in Afghanistan. Frankly, we’re not trying to create the perfect democracy. We’re never going to create some ideal society. We are simply there for our own national security.
In a democracy, if you don’t get the votes, nothing else is possible, no matter how wonderful your dreams.
What should be targeted is a concept of organic, and not just mechanic, democracy that preserves the rule of law, separation of powers, and that is participatory and pluralistic.
Democracy is not static. It is a living force. Every new idea, every new invention offers opportunity for both good and evil.
If democracy as we know it has to survive the elites have to regain their credibility. And they have to start by admitting that their economic model is broken.
