Quotes About Democracy

We make the point that for societies that purport to be democratic, consent, based upon a constantly reinforced common sensical understanding of the legitimacy of the rulers, is not only the most desirable form of governance, but is necessary to maintain the veneer (whether thick or thin) of democracy itself.

For a privileged minority, Western democracy provides the leisure, the facilities, and the training to seek the truth lying hidden behind the veil of distortion and misrepresentation, ideology, and class interest through which the events of current history are presented to us. The responsibilities of intellectuals, then, are much deeper than what Macdonald calls the "responsibility of peoples," given the unique privileges that intellectuals enjoy.

En Estados Unidos, el país más rico del mundo, que posee ventajas sin igual e instituciones democráticas estables, pero que a la vez está, más que ninguna otra sociedad, bajo el dominio de los hombres de negocios.

Washington apoya a dictadores y bloquea democracia y desarrollo, como hacen sus aliados. En

Discord among the ex-Soviet nationalities was fuelling an ugly brand of Russian nationalism. Voices in Moscow called for the re-conquest of Russia's 'near abroad'. For after Abkhazia, there waited several further targets for Russian intervention, including Tatarstan and Chechenia, and other non-Russian lands within the Russian Federation. Sooner or later, Russia would be forced to choose between its new-style democracy and its old-style imperialism.

Citizens have very little choice in terms of influencing major decisions. The influence of social media, the funding of political parties and the lust to hold onto power weakens year by year the body of the democratic processes. Cynicism and disillusionment has become rampant in democratic countries. We live largely under the control of rich and powerful institutions and individuals.

You study any pretty democracy, from the ancient Greeks forward, and you'll see that the only way each system functions is with a working class of slaves. Peons to haul the garbage so the upper crust can campaign and vote.

The democracy of capitalism guaranteed that only the most banal men, the men with the most moderate intellect and most readily appealing looks and talents, would rise to notoriety. And these would only be a handful from among the millions.

how do you steal a Republic? By convincing its people that they cannot govern themselves—that freedom is their enemy and that fear is their ally.

The New Republic is not a military entity. It is one of democracy. And it is painfully naïve to think that democracy can work on a galactic scale.

And how do you steal a Republic? By convincing its people that they cannot govern themselves—that freedom is their enemy and that fear is their ally. Palpatine

This is democracy," she says. "It is strange. And it is messy. It's not about getting it right. It's about trying to get it right. Yes, it's a bit chaotic. Certainly we will get some things wrong.

For it is time to return home. It is time to return democracy to the galaxy.

Science is trumped by ignorance when the ignorant are given a vote.

This is democracy," she says. "It is strange. And it is messy. It's not about getting it right. It's about trying to get it right.

Science is trumped by ignorance when the ignorant are given a vote. We have the program in other

The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy. —Alex Carey, social scientist

I pledge to do what must be done to get everyone before they get you, America. Free country or no free country, democracy or no democracy—at the end of the day, say what you want . . . You have to admit this: you're American. Naked displays of raw proactive bully-power put a tingling feeling in your undershorts. You like to see the bad guys get it. Might

The vast majority of you (and democracy is, after all, "majority rule") don't actively participate in, protect, fight for or even understand democracy. That's perfectly natural, mainly because you've never really had a democracy. What you have here, technically, is an oligarchy dressed down and slumming around in the hooded sweatshirt and baggy jeans of democracy. In

The very existence of concepts such as justice, democracy and hospitality enables the promise of something beyond all conceived present possibilities: the only impossibility is the determination in advance that certain events would be impossible.

for a democracy to flourish, it must have an incorruptible bureaucracy.

Other sovereign democratic states have central governments more corrupted other than our own, but most can fall back on unifying elements we lack: common ethnicity, a shared religion, or near-universal consensus on many fundamental political issues. The United States needs its central government to function cleanly, openly, and efficiently because it's one of the few things binding us together.

The true nature of a democracy is its ability to say yes when even the powerful say no

That American democracy is much more delicate than I was willing to admit. I always knew there was a power-hungry ruling class, but I didn't allow myself to see how many people would be willing to kneel in front of it. Maybe freedom just demands too much of the average citizen. Too much personal responsibility. Too many opportunities for failure.