Democracy Quotes - Page 37

• Democracy still has a real hope and chance in Iraq, and true freedom in this country would be the greatest testament to those who gave their lives for it

  Mary Landrieu

  Country, Real, Iraq

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• In a democracy the people choose a leader in whom they trust. Then the chosen leader says, 'Now shut up and obey me.' People and party are then no longer free to interfere in his business.

  Max Weber

  Party, People, Leader

  Max Weber (2009). “From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology”, p.42, Routledge

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• There is no more dangerous thing for a democracy than a foreign policy based on presidential preventive war.

  Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

  War, Presidential, Dangerous

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• Democracy not only requires equality but also an unshakable conviction in the value of each person, who is then equal. Cross cultural experience teaches us not simply that people have different beliefs, but that people seek meaning and understand themselves in some sense as members of a cosmos ruled by God.

  Jeane Kirkpatrick

  People, Different, Cosmos

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• Democracy is not just voting every 5 years and watching 'Big Brother' in between and wondering why nothing happens. Democracy is what we do and say where we live and work

  Tony Benn

  Brother, Years, Voting

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• Well, it all began with Democracy. Before we had the vote all the power was in the hands of rich people. If you had money you could get health care, education, look after yourself when you were old, and what democracy did was to give the poor the vote and it moved power from the marketplace to the polling station, from the wallet...to the ballot.

  Tony Benn

  Hands, Giving, People

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• I think democracy is the most revolutionary thing in the world, because if you have power you use it to meet the needs of you and your community.

  Tony Benn

  Thinking, Community, Needs

  "Sicko". Documentary, Drama, 2007.

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• Change from below, the formulation of demands from the populace to end unacceptable injustice, supported by direct action, has played a far larger part in shaping British democracy than most constitutional lawyers, political commentators, historians or statesmen have ever cared to admit. Direct action in a democratic society is fundamentally an educational exercise.

  Tony Benn

  Educational, Exercise, Direct Action

  "New Politics" Magazine, 1970.

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• Parliamentary democracy is, in truth, little more than a means of securing a periodical change in the management team, which is then allowed to preside over a system that remains in essence intact. If the British people were ever to ask themselves what power they truly enjoyed under our political system they would be amazed to discover how little it is

  Tony Benn

  Team, Mean, Essence

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• The philosophy of Africanism holds out the hope of a genuine democracy beyond the stormy sea of struggle

  Robert Sobukwe

  Philosophy, Struggle, Sea

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• A democracy is ... accounted the meanest and worst of all forms of government.

  John Winthrop

  Government, Form, Worst

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• Democracy is, in essence, a form of non-violent conflict management. If war is the worst enemy of development, healthy and balanced development is the best form of conflict prevention.

  Kofi Annan

  War, Essence, Worst Enemy

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• You have fewer rights because you are a minority. Absolutely, that’s how democracy works.

  Jacob Zuma

  Rights, Minorities, Fewer

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• The great social justice changes in our country have happened when people came together, organized, and took direct action. It is this right that sustains and nurtures our democracy today. The civil rights movement, the labor movement, the women's movement, and the equality movement for our LGBT brothers and sisters are all manifestations of these rights.

  Dolores Huerta

  Country, Brother, Direct Action

  "Election Day is the Most Important Day of Your Life" by Joe Baker, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 27, 2016.

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• I would like to see capital punishment suppressed in all democracies.

  Lionel Jospin

  Punishment, Capital Punishment

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• If we care about universal principles such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law, we cannot leave them to the care of market forces; we must establish some other institutions to safeguard them.

  George Soros

  Law, Principles, Investing

  George Soros (2007). “Open Society Reforming Global Capitalism Reconsidered”, p.12, PublicAffairs

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• We can speak of the triumph of capitalism in the world, but we cannot yet speak about the triumph of democracy. There is a serious mismatch between the political and the economic conditions that prevail in the world today.

  George Soros

  Political, Triumph, Investing

  George Soros (2007). “Open Society Reforming Global Capitalism Reconsidered”, p.11, PublicAffairs

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• Even in a society as tightly controlled as Singapore's, the market creates certain forces which perhaps in the long run may lead to democracy

  Peter L. Berger

  Running, Long, May

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• If you say simply that pressures toward democracy are created by the market, I would say yes

  Peter L. Berger

  Pressure, Ifs

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• I do not think you can push public expenditure significantly above 60 per cent and maintain the values of a plural society with adequate freedom of choice. We are here close to one of the frontiers of social democracy.

  Roy Jenkins

  Thinking, Choices, Adequate

  "Inflation fight goes on, Mr Jenkins tells left". The Times, January 24, 1976.

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• It can be argued - and rightly - that Taiwan is not just another regional issue: after all, the Chinese regard it as part of China. But Taiwan is also a regional issue for three reasons. First, the overthrow or even the neutering of democracy in Taiwan, which is what Beijing effectively demands, would be a major setback for democracy in the region as a whole. Second, if the Chinese were able to get their way by force in Taiwan, they would undoubtedly be tempted to do the same in other disputes. And third, there is no lack of such disputes to provoke a quarrel.

  Margaret Thatcher

  Issues, Chinese, Would Be

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• We've got to understand that the whole nature of the way American democracy guards its freedom has been changed

  John Ashcroft

  Way, Changed, Whole

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• The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart and democracy itself cannot function without the essential exchange of information. Creative leaks, a discreet lunch, interchange in the Lobby, the art of the unattributable telephone call, late at night.

  Howard Brenton

  Art, Night, Lunch

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• The Norwegian response to violence is more democracy, more openness and greater political participation.

  Jens Stoltenberg

  Political, Violence, Participation

  "Norway will not be intimidated by terror attacks, vows prime minister" by Helen Pidd and James Meikle, www.theguardian.com. July 27, 2011.

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• Democracy used to be a good thing, but now it has gotten into the wrong hands.

  Jesse Helms

  Hands, Good Things, Used

  "Stupidity is not a resignable offense" by Mark Shields, www.cnn.com. March 17, 2003.

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