“I think the advantage of democracy is that it makes us less dependent on a group of leaders.” ThinkingLeaderDemocracyGroupsAdvantageDependent Author:Azim Premji
“[Proportional representation is a] device for defeating democracy, the principle of which was that the majority should rule, and for bringing faddists of all kinds into Parliament, and establishing groups and disintegrating parties.” ShouldKindPartyPrinciplesDemocracyGroupsMajorityAll KindsDevicesRepresentationParliamentProportional Representation Author:David Lloyd George
“Democracy has turned out to be not majority rule but rule by well-organized and well-connected minority groups who steal from the majority.” WellsDemocracyGroupsMajorityConnectedStealingOrganizedMinoritiesDemocracies HaveMajority RuleMinority Groups Author:Llewellyn Rockwell
“One of the greatest disasters that happened to modern civilization was for democracy to inscribe "liberty" on its banners instead of "justice." Because "liberty" was considered the ideal it was not long until some men interpreted it as meaning "freedom from justice"; then when religion and decent government attempted to bring them back to justice, organized into "freedom groups" they protested that their constitutional and natural rights were being violated.” MenLongWisdomGovernmentPoliticsNaturalJusticeLibertyEconomyDemocracyRightsHappenedGroupsModernCivilizationIdealsDisasterOrganizedDecentLiberalismBannerNatural RightsModern Civilization Author:Fulton J. Sheen
“In the small group then is where we shall find the inner meaning of democracy, its very heart and core.” HeartDemocracyGroupsCoreSmall Groups Author:Mary Parker Follett
“Real democracy means that no group or faction or leader can impose their will, their ideology, their religion, their desires on anyone else.” MeanRealDesireLeaderDemocracyGroupsIdeologyFactions Author:Hillary Clinton
“Texans for Public Justice, an anti-corruption group based in Texas applauded the indictment. No jury can undo the outcome of Texas 2002 elections, ... but the justice system must punish those who criminally conspire to undermine democracy no matter how powerful they may be. If we are to be a democracy, then powerful politicians cannot flout such laws with impunity.” IfsMayMatterLawJusticePowerfulDemocracyGroupsPoliticianElectionCorruptionOutcomesTexasJuryJustice SystemImpunityTexanIndictment Author:Craig McDonald
“If democracy succeeds in Egypt, other countries will follow. Should the democratic experiment in Egypt be hijacked by the military or anti-democratic Islamist groups, the revolution will fail elsewhere.” IfsShouldCountryDemocracyFailingGroupsMilitaryRevolutionSucceedSpringDemocraticExperimentsElsewhereOther CountriesEgyptIslamistsArab Spring Author:David Ignatius
“The biggest danger I feel are an emerging group of Westernised, educated, champagne socialists and latte liberals who pontificate about social inequality, democracy and freedom in the comfort of their condos.” FeelsSocialDemocracyGroupsDangerComfortEducatedInequalityEmergingChampagneLattesSocial Inequality Author:Calvin Cheng
“That's really a part of my nature , it goes along with autonomy and independence of action - it's just that I don't identify with the local group, no matter what it is, whether it's the human species or the American democracy, the nation, the country, religions, political parties, nothing. None of these have my allegiance because I'm not really concerned with what they do. I don't feel a part of any of this.” FeelsHumansCountryMatterActionPoliticalNationsPartyDemocracyGroupsConcernedNo Matter WhatIndependenceSpeciesLocalsPolitical PartiesAutonomyAllegianceHuman SpeciesAmerican Democracy Author:George Carlin
“Under theocracies and other authoritarian regimes, the rulers are the moral authorities. Under genuine democracy some basic values are entrenched in the legal system, which is expected to be under democratic vigilance, and others are left to the person or the group, which ideally debate moral problems in a rational, free and cooperative manner.” PersonsProblemValuesLeftMoralDemocracyGroupsAuthorityDemocraticExpectedDebateGenuineRationalRegimesRulersVigilanceCooperativesLegal SystemTheocracyMoral Authority Author:Mario Bunge
“Of all forms of government and society, those of free men and women are in many respects the most brittle. They give the fullest freedom for activities of private persons and groups who often identify their own interests, essentially selfish, with the general welfare.” MenGivingPersonsGovernmentFormInterestDemocracyGroupsActivityMen And WomenSelfishWelfareFree ManForms Of GovernmentGeneral WelfareGovernment And Society Author:Dorothy Thompson
“European democracy was originally imbued with a sense of Christian responsibility and self-discipline, but these spiritual principles have been gradually losing their force. Spiritual independence is being pressured on all sides by the dictatorship of self-satisfied vulgarity, of the latest fads, and of group interests.” Has BeensSelfChristianSpiritualForceSidesInterestResponsibilityPrinciplesDemocracyGroupsDisciplineLosingIndependenceSatisfiedDictatorshipSelf DisciplineVulgarityFadsPressured Author:Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“If you look at all the lobbyists in Washington, this is not a democracy. This is ruled by special interest groups. That includes the military, the pharmaceutical industry, the people who produce mechanized debt, GMO foods. We are prisoners.” PeopleIfsLooksInterestDemocracyGroupsSpecialMilitaryProduceIndustryDebtPrisonerSpecial InterestsLobbyistsPharmaceuticalInterest GroupsGmosPharmaceutical IndustrySpecial Interest GroupsGmo Foods Author:Deepak Chopra
“A very small group of powerful people is deciding what's going to happen with your data, and they're using bots to help implement what they want to do. That has nothing to do with democracy. It's all about efficiency. And that's the really scary thing about it.” PeopleWantHelpingHappensPowerfulDemocracyGroupsScaryDataEfficiencySmall GroupsScary ThingsReally Scary Author:Daniel Suarez
“Today the Iraqi and Afghan people are on the path to democracy and freedom. The governments that are rising will pose no threat to others. Instead of harboring terrorists, they're fighting terrorist groups. And this progress is good for the long-term security of all of us.” PeopleLongGovernmentTodayFightingTermDemocracyPathProgressGroupsSecurityThreatTerroristLong TermRisingAfghanTerrorist Groups Author:George W. Bush
“Pakistan is, I always feel, hopeful. You know, our system of government is not, and the system of foreign policy whereby we do whatever is asked of us as long as the price is right only proves to fundamentalist outfits and to militant groups that when we talk of things like democracy, when we talk of things like foreign policy, what we're really talking about is being pro-American.” KnowsFeelsLongGovernmentTalkingDemocracyGroupsPolicyProveHopefulForeign PolicyPakistanFundamentalistMilitantOutfitsSystems Of Government Author:Fatima Bhutto
“Democracy can't work. Mathematicians, peasants, and animals, that's all there is - so democracy, a theory based on the assumption that mathematicians and peasants are equal, can never work. Wisdom is not additive; its maximum is that of the wisest man in a given group.” MenGivenAnimalDemocracyGroupsTheoryEqualAssumptionMathematicianMaximumPeasantsWisestWisest ManAdditives Book:Glory Road Source: Glory Road
“During the 1960s, large groups of people who are normally passive and apathetic began to try to enter the political arena to press their demands.... The naive might call that democracy, but that's because they don't understand. The sophisticated understand that that's the crisis of democracy.” PeopleTryingMightPoliticalDemocracyGroupsDemandCrisisPressesPassiveSophisticatedArenaNaive1960sApatheticLarge Groups Author:Noam Chomsky
“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.” WayStillsAblePowerfulPayDemocracyCuttingGroupsEconomicMilitaryPolicyAidsEstablishmentHarshAssistancePakistanVery PowerfulExtremistEconomic PolicyExtremist Groups Author:Benazir Bhutto
“If democracy is ever to be threatened, it will not be by revolutionary groups burning government offices and occupying the broadcasting and newspaper offices of the world. It will come from disenchantment, cynicism and despair caused by the realisation that the New World Order means we are all to be managed and not represented.” IfsWorldMeanGovernmentPoliticalOrderDemocracyGroupsRevolutionPoliticianDespairOfficeNewspapersManageBurningRevolutionaryRealisingNew WorldCynicismThreatenedRepresentingNew World OrderWorld OrderRealisationBroadcastingDisenchantment Author:Tony Benn
“I always maintain that playing in an orchestra intelligently is the best school for democracy. If you play a solo, the conductor and everybody in the orchestra follows you. Then, a few bars later, the main voice goes to another instrument, another group, and then you have to go back into the collective [sound]. The art of playing in an orchestra is being able to express yourself to the maximum but always in relation to something else that is going on.” IfsArtPlayAbleSchoolSoundVoiceDemocracyGroupsRelationInstrumentsBarsCollectivesSoloOrchestraMaximumExpress YourselfConductorBest School Author:Daniel Barenboim
“All democracies are based on the proposition that power is very dangerous and that it is extremely important not to let any one person or small group have too much power for too long a time” PersonsLongImportantDemocracyToo MuchGroupsDangerousPropositionsSmall GroupsToo Much Power Author:Aldous Huxley
“If I rule out violent anarchism, there remains pacifist, anti-nationalist, anti-capitalist, moral, and anti-democratic anarchism (i.e., that which is hostile to the falsified democracy of bourgeois states). There remains the anarchism which acts by means of persuasion, by the creation of small groups and networks, denouncing falsehood and oppression, aiming at a true overturning of authorities of all kinds as people at the bottom speak and organize themselves.” PeopleIfsKindMeanStatesSpeakMoralDemocracyGroupsCreationAuthorityRemainsDemocraticBottomViolentAll KindsOppressionCapitalistFalsehoodOrganizePersuasionHostileAnarchismBourgeoisSmall GroupsPacifist Author:Jacques Ellul
“Democracy is not brute numbers; it is a genuine union of true individuals...the essence of democracy is creating. The technique of democracy is group organization.” IndividualNumbersDemocracyGroupsCreatingEssenceOrganizationUnionsTechniqueGenuineBrutes Author:Mary Parker Follett
“No one can deny that some Islamist groups have credential and popularity. But that does not mean they are a majority. If we are serious about democracy we cannot blame the people for choosing what they want. We must promote the kinds of procedures and processes that are helping the people move ahead.” PeopleIfsWantKindMeanDoeHelpingMovingProcessDemocracyGroupsSeriousBlameMajorityDenyPopularityProceduresMoving AheadIslamists Author:Tariq Ramadan
“There are a lot of great organizations who are fighting for food and environmental safety in this country. The Environmental Working Group, Just Label It, Food Democracy Now, and the Center for Food Safety, to name a few.” CountryFightingNamesDemocracyGroupsOrganizationSafetyEnvironmentalLabelsFood SafetyGreat Organizations Author:Zoe Lister-Jones
“The American founding is not just about a group of people, a group of men. It is about an ideal: Both a vision and understanding of the very essence of democracy, constitutional government, a representative republic, and the remarkably powerful concept of being endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.” PeopleMenGovernmentCertainUnderstandingPowerfulVisionDemocracyRightsGroupsConceptsIdealsEssenceCreatorRepublicRepresentativesFoundingConstitutional GovernmentUnalienable Rights Author:Paul Kengor