Quotes About Participation

We do need women in civic life. We do need women to run for office, to be in political office. We need a feminist to be at the table when decisions are being made so that the right decisions will be made.

Too often the great decisions are originated and given form in bodies made up wholly of men, or so completely dominated by them that whatever of special value women have to offer is shunted aside without expression.

If American women would increase their voting turnout by ten percent, I think we would see an end to all of the budget cuts in programs benefiting women and children.

What I hope is less about what the greens will do but what people who don't consider themselves part of the green movement will do.

When I am talking about politics, it is not about reading a book, theories on policies, but awareness on what is our right as a citizen of a democratic country.

In a democracy, supposedly we hold power by what we do at the ballot box, so therefore the more we know about political power the better our choices should be and the better, in theory, our democracy should be.

As I said, I spent most of my adult life thinking I didn't have a vote, and therefore that what I thought didn't matter.

They say making laws is like making sausages. You shouldn't watch. It's the same for acting, especially for the actor who works unconsciously.

The biggest problem with American music right now, is that kids don't listen. They come by it honestly, Americans don't listen anyway. When people go to concerts, they say I'm going to see... not, I'm going to hear.

There's no way that if you get participation out of a person can they say you didn't rock it.

In some communities, I show up, and they say, 'Well, we haven't seen our Democrat congressman in 10 years.'

Being in the thick of things is a good thing.

The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion.

Let your voice be heard. Don't stand idly by and let things happen to you. Question everything; be informed.

You have citizens who don't understand how government works and they're kind of soured on it. All they do is criticize. They have no idea that they can make things happen.

Bad things happen when you try to let things just happen. You can't be passive.

Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.

Democracy is essential for equality. Thank God, Indian democracy is still working. That is because every Indian is essentially a thinker. Thinking is not limited to the elite.

You may not be thinking about politics, but politics is thinking about you.

Listener and reader input is every bit as important as anything any of us can say. We'd be like crazy people chattering in the middle of that empty field that Joe Biden thinks we should stand in to be safe from swine flu if it weren't for the calls, the letters, the blogs, and the reaction from our audience.

Democracy is made up of three elements. One is whether the laws support pluralistic principles. The second is whether the people take advantage of these laws. The third element is whether the peoples' wallets are thick enough to benefit from this democracy.

When I joined a baseball club, the boys of my own age, and a little older, played in the first nine, those younger than myself played in the second, and those still younger in the third, and I played with them.

There are a lot of complaints by the older generation about the lack of action in this generation. My retort: give these people something to be engaged in. Cutting a check is not engaging.

My idea of relaxation is not lying down by a beach. I have to move around, do stuff. Though I'm a massive quiz show person.