Quotes About Democracy

In 1988, when democracy was restored, the military establishment was still very powerful. The extremist groups were still there. And when the aid and assistance to Pakistan was cut, we had to adopt harsh economic policies. So in a way, it showed that democracy doesn't pay, and the military was able to reassert itself.

The American people have no control over what the military does. We have no say in American foreign policy.

I can't talk about foreign policy like anyone who's spent their life reading and learning foreign policy. But as a citizen in a democracy, it's very important that I participate in that.

Everything in our foreign and domestic policy is a question of issue for the American people to vote on.

We know that when people are civically engaged, when they understand what their rights are, when they understand that in a democracy you can challenge governments, you can challenge policymakers, and you can... actually shape and form future policy, I think it changes the perception that a lot of young people have about where power is.

As free citizens in a political democracy, we have a responsibility to be interested and involved in the affairs of the human community, be it at the local or the global level.

Political development should start at the grassroots.

Everyone here has a right to their own political beliefs and everybody has the right to stand by what they believe in. That's what makes us American.

The American political scientist Francis Fukuyama has argued that liberal democracies, with their political freedom and economic success, have three important pillars: a strong government, the rule of law, and democratic accountability. I would add a fourth: free markets.

A free economy is as essential to society as democratic political institutions. A strong market-based economy is the fertile ground for democratic freedoms that we think are important.

What is frustrating people, me included, is that democratic action affects elections but what we get then from political leaders is greenwash.

You have to understand that to have a revolution when you are 18 years old is completely different from normal political leaders who were born in a democracy and will die in a democracy and never to have experienced that change. I have seen that change.

Part of what's great about America, and Canada as well, is that we can talk about our political leaders in public.

Political parties - which too often operate like closed circles - must open up.

In every capitalist economy there are anti-capitalist movements, activists, and even political parties; in a way, that there are no longer anti-democratic movements, activists, and parties.

Had there not been these safety valves of political parties and elections, we may very well have had no way to change except forceful overthrow of government.

I think one of the biggest curses in the U.S. is that we have only two political parties.

There is a severe shortage in our country of political parties where internal democracy is alive and kicking.

I'm a firm believer that if we could restore real parliamentary democracy, the best way to do that would be to get rid of political parties.

The Catalan institutions and political parties have to be consistent, because they have the democratic legitimacy of the ballot box and they can't pass certain responsibilities on to civil society.

Debate is almost non-existent and no one is apparently accountable to anybody apart from their political party bosses. It is bad news for democracy in this country.

Donating to a political party is a social good. It enables democracy and good things to happen in our communities.

It's a shame and a disgrace that so few people take part in the political process.

I am committed to growing participation in the political process and doing it the right way.