Democracy Quotes

Given political history in Chile, it seemed to me that there was a critical task of consolidating a democracy and creating healthy civic-military and political-military relationships.

There does not have to be trade-off between growth and social protection. A democracy does not mean much if it doesn't respond to the needs and will of its people.

For me, a better democracy is a democracy where women do not only have the right to vote and to elect but to be elected.

Most people associate reading with laying on the beach. They don't see that it's crucial for a democracy!

So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy.

Our constitutional liberties shall not be sacrificed in our search for greater security, for that is what our enemies and all enemies of freedom and democracy hope to achieve.

In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority.

I fully acknowledge the value of the 'jury of three' and conventional A&R-led industry model, but strongly feel the Internet offers a new-style democracy that gives artists greater control of their careers and a different way to break out.

The United States is not for democracy in Iraq, it's for setting up a puppet government.

The Greens have every right to run, that's what democracy is, and they should argue their point by saying how they think people should vote, not by telling us to be silent.

I think we need to just be very clear about what we're trying to do in Afghanistan. Frankly, we're not trying to create the perfect democracy. We're never going to create some ideal society. We are simply there for our own national security.

The Oval Office symbolizes... the Constitution, the hopes and dreams, and I'm going to say democracy. And when you have a dress code in the Supreme Court and a dress code on the floor of the Senate, floor of the House, I think it's appropriate to have an expectation that there will be a dress code that respects the office of the President.

In our system of democracy, our government works on a system of checks and balances. Instead of stripping power from the courts, I believe we should follow the process prescribed in our Constitution - consideration of a Constitutional amendment.

Advertising is the very essence of democracy.

The simplification of anything is always sensational.

You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution.

Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.

Iraq is part of a legitimate American effort not to have democracy everywhere but to have democracy somewhere.

Democracy, it appears, is a bit chancy. But its chances also depend on what we do ourselves.

There is so much that can be done, you see, the assembly is about improving our democracy.

I have - I have more than an interesting task in piloting Wales into our new democracy, without wanting to exercise draconian powers on behalf of anybody else - I can assure of that.

When Bush says democracy, I often wonder what he's referring to.

Now undoubtedly, we face some very British challenges when it comes to infrastructure. We rightly cherish our back yards and green spaces, and we'll defend them passionately when projects are announced. We live in a democracy, and we like to debate these things, often for many years.

The world is weary of statesmen whom democracy has degraded into politicians.

Democracy don't rule the world, You'd better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that's better left unsaid.

You know, I'm not comfortable with people whose politics are static in a democracy.

My objection to the death penalty is based on the idea that this is a democracy, and in a democracy the government is me, and if the government kills somebody then I'm killing somebody.

I think it's obvious that democracy is something that is contagious, and it always has been.

Democracy doesn't recognize east or west; democracy is simply people's will. Therefore, I do not acknowledge that there are various models of democracy; there is just democracy itself.

Without democracy there is no freedom. Violence, no matter who is using it, is always reactionary.

And it is essential that in fighting terrorism, sacrifices should not be made on democracy.

Although we dealt decisively with all terrorist organizations, we at the same time not only maintained, preserved our democracy, but kept improving it.

Bosses are no more inevitable in state and local governments than dictators are in national governments. They will arise and prosper, nevertheless, if true believers of democracy - citizens devoted to the democratic ideals - do not constantly oppose them.

Our democracy poses problems and these problems must and shall be solved by courageous leadership.

Greece isn't a democracy now it's run through a troika - three foreign officials that fly into Athens airport and tell the Greeks what they can and can't do.

British chancellor is telling the rest of Europe it must abandon democracy. It's appalling.

Democracy derailed is democracy denied.

The idea of allowing corporations to have unlimited influence on our democracy is very dangerous, obviously.

A basic tenet of a healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency.

The whole dream of democracy is to raise the proletarian to the level of stupidity attained by the bourgeois.

Few businessmen are capable of being in politics, they don't understand the democratic process, they have neither the tolerance or the depth it takes. Democracy isn't a business.

Two cheers for Democracy; one because it admits variety, and two because it permits criticism.

So, two cheers for Democracy: one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism.

The new social question is: democracy or the rule of the financial markets. We are currently witnessing the end of an era. The neoliberal ideology has failed worldwide. The U.S. movement Occupy Wall Street is a good example of this.

There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet.

In Europe, it appears that in the name of democracy, elites are pursuing an autocratic, centralized power, seeking economic control and social regimentation.

The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of heart.

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

For centuries, America has led the world on a long march toward freedom and democracy. Let's reclaim our clean energy leadership and lead the world toward clean energy independence.

Well the protester I think is a very powerful thing. It's basically a mechanism of democracy that, along with capitalism, scientific innovation, those things have built the modern world. And it's wonderful that the new tools have empowered that protestor so that state secrets, bad developments are not hidden anymore.

I think it is very important for any U.S. administration to be clear that America stands on the side of freedom and democracy and respect for individual rights.

Let's remember that the revolution in Tahrir Square was not anti-American, it was not anti-Israeli, it was for democracy and freedom. That's a good thing.

Imposing democracy through force is a roll of the dice.

Our alliances should be understood as a means to expand our influence, not as a constraint on our power. The expansion of democracy and freedom in the world should be a shared interest and value with all nations.

We are not directly involved in Syria. But we will be working with our partners in the European Union and at the United Nations to see if we can persuade the Syrian authorities to go, as I say, more in that direction of respect for democracy and human rights.

I regard freedom of expression as the primary right without which one can not have a proper functioning democracy.

In a democracy, you don't need anyone's permission to form a new political party, publish a politically charged article, or organize a 'tea party.' And in open markets, individuals are free to buy and invest as they see fit.

In a well-functioning democracy, citizens have the option of voting their political masters out of office. Not so in most companies.

Democracy, if it meant what our forefathers said, that would be great, but unfortunately it's been corrupted by this funding and funding of campaigns. There's a much better way to do it. There could be a small amount of money given by every taxpayer to be dedicated to candidates.

Our democracy is not a product but a continual process. It is preserved not by monuments but deeds. Sometimes it needs refining; sometimes it needs amending; sometimes it needs defending. Always, it needs improving.

We should insist that governments receiving American aid live up to standards of accountability and transparency, and we should support countries that embrace market reforms, democracy, and the rule of law.

But despite this breathtaking pace, I believe in the capacity of our democracy to meet these challenges.

Democracy fascinates me.

Democracy makes us articulate our views, defend them, and refine them.

If we are to keep democracy, there must be a commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice.

It is not enough to merely defend democracy. To defend it may be to lose it; to extend it is to strengthen it. Democracy is not property; it is an idea.

A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be democratic. No country can be really well prepared for modern war unless it is governed by a tyrant, at the head of a highly trained and perfectly obedient bureaucracy.

You would like me to say that the veil will be ripped from the voters' eyes sometime between now and November, thereby restoring the proper version of Democracy to the House and Senate. I won't say that, of course. The simple reason is, I don't know.

But I think we need to remember that democracy everywhere is by its nature incomplete, a work in progress.

Having lived through the transition from totalitarianism, I am acutely mindful of the need to never take for granted the basic freedoms of thought, expression and belief that democracy brings.

In the democracy of the dead all men at last are equal. There is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the grave.

Democracy is only an experiment in government, and it has the obvious disadvantage of merely counting votes instead of weighing them.

We must never forget that many around the globe are denied the basic rights we enjoy as Americans. If we are to continue enjoying these privileges and freedoms we must accept our mission of expanding democracy around the globe.

The need to help spread democracy and the ability to do that will be much greater if we break this addiction to oil, which gives the oil princes and sultans the power in the Mideast.

My submission to you is we're fighting the war on terror not overseas but in our own streets, and we'd be spending vast more fortunes to try to be a defensive country to protect ourselves rather than an offensive country to spread democracy wherever people yearn for it.