Quotes About Democracy

This is, after all, the country that gave the world the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, the right to own property, the English language, and the free market... we are a remarkable people, and we have so much more to give.

The Bill of Rights is a remarkable document because it weaves into the fabric of our democracy the idea that government has a responsibility to protect individual liberty.

Remember that a civilized nation cannot just have one party; if there were only one party, this would merely be a dictatorship. Politics could not advance.

Public participation helped create the Internet, and it helps protect it. That's worth celebrating and remembering.

Where I think historians can help preserve and actually restore democracy is to remind us of how we got it.

My grandfather wanted to remind us that freedom of expression is the fundamental ingredient for democracy, and all the rest is detail. It is the scaffolding around which every other freedom is based.

I have not met, in Afghanistan, in even the most remote community, anybody who does not want a say in who governs them. Most remote community, I have never met a villager who does not want a vote.

There should be some other provisions in the Constitution whereby if the Government is not functioning well, it can be dealt with. In a parliamentary democracy, this should be done only by Parliament. The prime minister should be answerable only to Parliament and it should only be Parliament that can install him or remove him.

That a peasant may become king does not render the kingdom democratic.

Lawyers have rendered immense sacrifices for the restoration of democracy and free judiciary, and their role in this regard cannot be ignored.

If you're going to spend most of your time in your democracy figuring out how to get oil by intervening into other people's countries and insuring that you follow it with military might, we think there's an alternative. Which would be renewable energy.

What people forget is that no one pays you to go and be a champion for democracy. A girl's got to make rent. I didn't have a job for two years.

We have to repair our country's infrastructure, but we also have to protect and repair the infrastructure of our democracy. It's not either or, it's both and.

I have repeatedly called for respecting institutions and the democratic process. Once the process is completed, we should always respect the outcome.

Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil. You have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people and that something is democracy.

Democratic accountability means that governments must be popularly accepted, with citizens empowered to replace corrupt or incompetent rulers.

Osama bin Laden has managed to replace fear of God and adherence to the Quran with his philosophy of jihad above all else. What's behind that facade is the true philosophical intentions of al Qaeda: the establishment of a new Islamic caliphate that will defeat democracy as the greater of the two political orders.

What we need in Africa is balanced development. Economic success cannot be a replacement for human rights or participation or democracy... it doesn't work.

To those who cynically say today that liberal democracy would be 'obsolete,' I reply: liberal democracy, human rights, freedom of the press and the rule of law were the right way, are the right way, and will be the right way.

Senators will do what they think they need to do to represent their constituents.

It was clear, for example, in 1988 that the political process had already become perilously remote from the electorate it was meant to represent.

The principle is that every member needs to represent their district.

The key is to vote because we need a vote to put the people in power that we want to represent us.

I've always said that climate change is the defining issue of our generation. I've set out to hold candidates and elected officials accountable and to push our democracy to truly represent the interests of our kids.