Quotes About Democracy

Bilateral negotiations with a tyrant rarely turn out well for a democracy. Because they are subjected to little accountability, totalitarian regimes face no pressure to honor their word. They are free to break agreements and then make new demands. A democracy has a choice: give in or provoke a confrontation.

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.

Though even those on the left, often in a one-sided fashion, hail the point that London's bastard child in North America merits a salute because of its bringing of bourgeois democracy, this was more akin to burning down the house in order to roast the pig.

It is not easy to seize land on which another people reside, oust them, then shout from the rooftops about alleged democratic principles.

Early on de Tocqueville correctly observed that this democracy was one in which "men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, 'til each nation is reduced to be nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals.…" (my italics).

I agree with those who say that democracies need to work together more effectively to stand up for the liberal democratic model that China is increasingly challenging. It's important for there to be an alliance of democracies.

Japan and the U.S. are allies that share universal values such as liberty and democracy. We'd like to work together with the U.S. to further strengthen the alliance and secure peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

It was to carry the American democratic journey beyond these failings that Black citizens and civil rights workers risked unemployment, violence and death.

Amnesty International continues to report that extra judicial tortures and murders continue. This is not democracy that we are exporting to Mexico, and this is certainly not what the Mexican workers signed up for.

Any union that can't accept workers choosing their own representatives through universal franchise is finished.

India's dynamic growth, coupled with its large reservoir of skilled workforce, its commitment to democracy, and the rule of law, all taken together make India a very attractive investment destination.

Having women in office is vital to the health of our democracy because women play a unique role in our society. By and large, women are still the primary caregivers in families, even as we have taken our place in the workforce.

Some kind of affirmative action is important in a democracy and for economic competitiveness and national security. The Army was the first to realize that you had to have desegregation of a military to have it working properly.

Thousands of dedicated men and women in the intelligence community and law enforcement are working tirelessly to prevent the subversion of our democratic processes by Beijing, Moscow and Tehran.

Fighting public corruption is essential to preserving a working democracy that people have confidence in. I said that time and again on the campaign trail, and that's why it's such a high priority for me.

There will always be a place for us somewhere, somehow, as long as we see to it that working people fight for everything they have, everything they hope to get, for dignity, equality, democracy, to oppose war and to bring to the world a better life.

I have no political ax to grind; I just find it absurd that huge billion-dollar corporations can take over elections. I just find it insane that, for instance, we give tax breaks to people like myself making millions of dollars, while there're no tax breaks for working people. That, to me, is not a political issue, that's a life issue.

Take a stand against intolerance and for our American values. Say it with pride: I support democracy in America. I support working people in America. I support opportunity in America. And I support Barack Obama for another four years as president of the United States of America!

Working people vote!

Voting shouldn't be a challenge. It should be as easy and accessible as possible. We shouldn't require forms of ID that folks don't have. We shouldn't restrict days or hours that allow working people a chance to both do their job and exercise their democratic right, and we damn well shouldn't be throwing up new obstacles midstream.

It's sad to say, but the story of Royal Mail's privatisation is a story of our times: the loss of democratic control; the transfer of wealth and power to the richest in society; and the growing pressure on working people to work harder and faster for less.

We had extremely democratic town councils in medieval Italy which knew the value of working together, and every now and then, down the centuries, this spirit returns.

I believe, whether it is the United States or Europe, they will all end up as multicultural societies. So India's this great experiment of a billion people of such great diverse persuasion, working together, seeking their salvation in the framework of a democracy. I believe it will have some lessons for all the multicultural societies.

We can no longer allow multinationals to parade as agents of progress and democracy in the newspapers, even as they subvert it at the workplace.