“I saw in States' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction but as the redemption of Democracy.... Therefore I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization, and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.” StatesFightingLostLibertyDemocracySawsRightsProgressCivilizationBattleDestructionFilledSavedChecksRedemptionStakesRejoiceSovereignMournConfederateAbsolutismSecessionWaterlooStates RightsRichmond Author:Lord Acton
“I think it's something that the citizenry needs to be vigilant about - participating in democracy, and that includes issues like what's going on and how much secrecy and transparency there should be. That's an on-going thing - in a democracy you want checks and balances and oversight, but you need a covert agency to protect the country. It's a very tricky balance and I think it changes as the world changes and I think we all need to be mindful of that.” ThinkingWorldWantNeedsShouldCountryDemocracyIssuesBalanceProtectChecksAgencySecrecyTransparencyTrickyParticipatingVigilantCitizenryOversightCovert Author:Matt Damon
“It's precisely because America is not a democracy that we have survived! It's precisely because majority rule does have checks and balances on it. It's precisely because this is a representative republic that we have survived.” DoeAmericaDemocracyBalanceMajorityChecksRepublicRepresentativesSurvivedMajority Rule Author:Rush Limbaugh
“How do we preserve our civil rights, our traditions as a liberal democracy, in a time when government power is expanding and is more and more difficult to check?” GovernmentDifficultDemocracyRightsTraditionChecksCivil RightsPreservesExpandingLiberal Democracy Author:Edward Snowden
“We all need to provide the checks and balances for democracy.” NeedsDemocracyBalanceChecks Author:Lisa Ling