Quotes About Democracy

The overflow of big money in politics drowns out the voices of everyday people. That is part of the conundrum in this country: The more money you have the more speech you have. That leaves everyday people out of the equation.

The concentration of wealth in the hands of the few threatens the ability of ordinary people to raise their voices and have a say over how our societies are run.

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.

Universities are some of the few places left where a struggle for the commons, for public life, if not democracy itself, can be made visible through the medium of collective voices and social movements energized by the need for a politics and way of life counter to authoritarian capitalism.

We can have all the walkouts we want, but if we don't walk to that ballot box and make our voices heard, these politicians aren't going to listen.

America's Founders were committed to a wide-open public forum in which all voices and perspectives could have a chance of being heard.

America has never been moved to perfect our desire for greater democracy without radical thinking and radical voices being at the helm of any such quest.

Recent action in Syria and Palestine also tell us that the awakening voices of democracy in those regions are occurring, and that those in that region are able to pursue it without being stifled by terrorists that are despotic.

Over the past few years special interests have had a larger and larger say over who gets what in America, and the voices of average citizens are being shut out.

Billionaires like the Koch brothers, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, and political puppet master Karl Rove should not be able to buy our elections. Secret money should not be able to drown out the voices of the American people and sell our Democracy to the highest bidder.

I'm at one with Ed Miliband in saying that it's important that people have the right to express their democratic voices and also their deep concerns about climate change because we have a planet in peril.

A historic investment in jobs, debt-free college, profit sharing, making those at the top pay their fair share, putting families first in a modern economy and a democracy where working people's voices are actually heard. That is what we are fighting for in this election.

People need to make their voices heard in an orderly fashion.

This is America. Dissenting voices will continue to voice their dissent. Because they've read the operating instructions for the United States of America, and it's their right.

Like Israel, the U.K. is a democracy, and like Israel, we would never want to muzzle political voices, whatever their opinions - and that is especially true for universities.

I don't think NRA members are bad people at all. I think they're responsible gun owners that want to become politically active and make their voices heard in this democracy.

Even if the politics needed doesn't exist today, we still need to use our voices to make sure that the people in power are focused on the right things. Because this is a democracy, and in a democracy, people are the ones who run the country.

To say a democracy prospers only if one set of voices is heard would be untrue.

Politics is not about a certain type or breed of people. It is a representation of the different voices we have in society.

Voluntary public funding of elections solves the free speech 'problem' with more speech instead of more regulation: by giving qualified candidates who show broad-based constituent support enough matching public funds to mount a credible campaign.

I used to do volunteer work in poor areas of Cairo, and people would gather their money together to get a satellite dish. You'd see them huddling around and for the first time seeing issues being debated on TV that had never been talked about before. And that is the biggest promoter of democracy you could possibly have.

This is America. We pick our leaders through democratic politics - ballot boxes, campaign stops, and good old-fashioned retail electioneering. It's a system that doesn't work without thousands of volunteers and ordinary supporters getting out in public and making the case for their preferred candidates.

The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.

You need a certain standard of literacy, moral and ethical values, to be able to run a one man, one vote system.