Democracy Quotations | Page 3

First of all, the world criticizes American foreign policy because Americans criticize American foreign policy. We shouldn't be surprised about that. Criticizing government is a God-given right - at least in democracies.

Celebrity distorts democracy by giving the rich, beautiful, and famous more authority than they deserve.

Organized religion, wielding power over the community, is antithetical to the process of what modern democracy should define as liberty. The sooner we are without it, the better.

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

A central claim of the Bush administration's foreign policy is that the spread of democracy in the Middle East is the cure for terrorism.

Democracy and socialism are means to an end, not the end itself.

In our so-called democracy we are accustomed to give the majority what they want rather than educate them to understand what is best for them.

I swear I will do everything in my power to change the situation in Tibet where human rights are being suppressed. Tibet seeks freedom and democracy and we agree on those values.

We women of America tell you that America is not a democracy. Twenty million women are denied the right to vote.

To say that most of us today are purely expansive is only another way of saying that most of us continue to be more concerned with the quantity than with the quality of our democracy.

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.

The 'democracy gap' in our politics and elections spells a deep sense of powerlessness by people who drop out, do not vote, or listlessly vote for the 'least worst' every four years and then wonder why after every cycle the 'least worst' gets worse.

We learned in World War II that no single nation holds a monopoly on wisdom, morality or right to power, but that we must fight for the weak and promote democracy.

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

The simple fact is we do not live in a democracy. Certainly not the kind our Founding Fathers intended. We live in a corporate dictatorship represented by, and beholden to, no single human being you can reason with or hold responsible for anything.

America is an outlier in the world of democracies when it comes to the structure and conduct of elections.

You can't be a full participant in our democracy if you don't know our history.

I believe in the greatness of our democracy.

I think the advantage of democracy is that it makes us less dependent on a group of leaders.

The only force that can overcome an idea and a faith is another and better idea and faith, positively and fearlessly upheld.

Eventually I foresee voting on the Internet, which will lead to much more direct democracy.

A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy.

Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce.

Not less, but more democracy - that is the demand, that is the great goal that we have to prescribe for ourselves, and especially for our youth.

Why should the Negroes ever fight against the only nations of the world where racial discrimination is prohibited, and where the people can live freely? Never! I can assure you, they will never fight against either the Soviet Union or the peoples' democracies.

I believe that it is an unchanging value of democracy that ends cannot justify the means in politics.

I'm very disappointed by the mature-democracy countries. I was ousted by a coup d'etat.

The better the information it has, the better democracy works. Silence and secrecy are never good for it.

In a democracy, supposedly we hold power by what we do at the ballot box, so therefore the more we know about political power the better our choices should be and the better, in theory, our democracy should be.

For comprehensive Earth action, an all-of-the-Earth representative democracy is required. That is, a global parliament.

I do not believe that the values which the Western democracies consider essential to civilization can survive in a world rent by the international anarchy of nationalism and the economic anarchy of competitive enterprise.

The problem with the West is that they start with political reform going towards democracy.

What we have to do is to definitively remove the last vestiges of power from those who treat terms such as liberal democracy, free markets and Europe with suspicion.

I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.

The beauty of our democracy lies in the American value of equality: if you vote, you have a seat at the table. If you speak, you have a chance to persuade others. A billionaire and a minimum wage earner have the same power at the ballot box.

Ultimately, freedom and democracy are stronger than fear and tyranny.

I always assume that democracy is the only good form of government, quite frankly, and democracy is always to be preferred

Science and policy-making thrive on challenge and questioning; they are vital to the health of inquiry and democracy.

Once you don't vote your ideals... that has serious undermining affects. It erodes the moral basis of our democracy.

I think they will never really enjoy true democracy in China.

Here's to democracy. May we get the government we deserve.

Americans cannot teach democracy to the world until they restore their own.

What we say is that democracy means that you have the right to vote without intimidation and undue burdens. But if you stand in line for six hours, technically, today there is no document, no standard, no law that says that that's wrong.

We should not be surprised that democracy is imperfect even in Western countries.

I'm a great aficionado of history. I was deeply affected by seeing the disintegration of any chance of democracy coping with fascism in the Weimar republic, where woolly-minded, well-meaning liberalism actually allowed the forces of darkness to use democracy, to exploit democracy, to overturn democracy.

Communism destroys democracy. Democracy can also destroy Communism.

A free and truly independent press - fiercely independent when necessary - is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy.

In Iran the whole reform and democracy movement has been based on the emerging free press.

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.

The soviet people want full-blooded and unconditional democracy.

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

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.

Moreover, as we live in an era of the ascendancy of democracy and human rights, we must see that Taiwan has been a vibrant democracy with a democratically elected president and legislature.

I am happy that Poland is returning to the road of pluralism and democracy.

The Paris Commune was first and foremost a democracy. The government was a body elected by universal suffrage.

America's greatest contribution to the world is its concept of democracy, its concept of freedom, freedom of action, freedom of speech, and freedom of thought.

We will not let terrorists change our way of life; we will not live in fear; and we will not undermine the civil liberties that characterize our Democracy.

In Ethiopia, democracy is in its infancy and it must be nurtured along by its leaders.

So now is the time, more than ever, for those who truly value all the principles of democracy, especially including dissent, to be the most forceful in speaking up, standing up and speaking out.

I sow; my successor reaps. This is the majesty of democracy.

Now that our media companies and it appears are policies are traded for cash, what is there to check the continuing consolidation of power and diminishing of democracy?

Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.

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

I take the debate on the method of promoting democracy seriously

No amount of charters, direct primaries, or short ballots will make a democracy out of an illiterate people.

Too many people expect wonders from democracy, when the most wonderful thing of all is just having it.

I'm worried about the traditional media, but I think the new media is a plus for democracy.

Democracy matters because it reflects an idea of equality and an idea of liberty. It reflects an idea of dignity, the dignity of the individual, the idea that each individual should have an equal vote, an equal say, in the formation of their government.

Democracy may mean something more than a theoretically absolute popular government, but it assuredly cannot mean anything less.

Our constancy, same might call it our madness, was necessary to wear down the oppressive forces of the old democracy which, in Spain, was a hundred years behind the times.

Flawed as they may be, science and the secular Enlightenment values expressed in Western democracies are our best hope for survival.

Nobody should be allowed to tinker with democracy. We will not discontinue the good works of the past government.

I don't understand why it has to be either - or - either socialism or democracy. Why can't we combine things to get the best of each system?

We have to implant democracies where there are now dictatorships.

Democracy no longer means what it was meant to. It has been taken back into the workshop. Each of its institutions has been hollowed out, and it has been returned to us as a vehicle for the free market, of the corporations. For the corporations, by the corporations.

Democracy rests upon two pillars: one, the principle that all men are equally entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and the other, the conviction that such equal opportunity will most advance civilization.

Journalism is what maintains democracy. It's the force for progressive social change.

I think the good old British democracy should keep scrutinising and pressing to get the truth out.

Japan is not a Western democracy. The Japanese have kept their traditions, culture and heritage, but they have joined the community of free nations.

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.

Violence is hidden within democratic structures because they are not radically democratic - Western democracy is merely a domestic convenience of consumerism.

Let me say again that the relationship is asymmetrical: there's no democracy without a market economy, but you can have a market economy without democracy.

Inflation is bringing us true democracy. For the first time in history, luxuries and necessities are selling at the same price.

A global democracy works only when countries trust one another.

We have shown that Islam can rule the world perfectly for 14 centuries, and during this time of Muslim power we did not borrow ideas like democracy from others, so why do we need to learn democracy from them now?

I want people to learn what democracy means.

This is supposed to be a participatory democracy and if we're not in there participating then the people that will manipulate and exploit the system will step in there.

Informed by our sad experience of history, we require nothing short of a foundation for lasting democracy.

In history, the millions win; that is democracy.

Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public organization cannot live a full-blooded life

Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.

There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.

I believe in trade unionism, and I believe in democracy, in democratic trade unionism.

The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy.

A functioning, robust democracy requires a healthy educated, participatory followership, and an educated, morally grounded leadership.

It has been well over half a century and I'm glad to say we have taken the right path from authoritarianism to democracy and this is a road of no return.

So many struggled so that all of us could have a voice in this great democracy and live up to the first three words of our constitution: We the people. I love that phrase so much. Throughout our country's history, we've expanded the meaning of that phrase to include more and more of us. That's what it means to move forward.

Imposing democracy through force is a roll of the dice.

It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.

The birth of democracy in Iraq is one of the great positive changes of our era.