“We enter parliament in order to supply ourselves, in the arsenal of democracy, with its own weapons. If democracy is so stupid as to give us free tickets and salaries for this bear's work, that is its affair. We do not come as friends, nor even as neutrals. We come as enemies. As the wolf bursts into the flock, so we come.” IfsGivingOrderEnemyDemocracyStupidBearsWeaponsAffairFascismTicketsParliamentSalaryFlocksArsenal Author:Joseph Goebbels
“Only that Swiss in the heart want still a king or at least a strong Upper House of Parliament. Swiss long themselves for less democracy and more dictatorship.” WantHeartLongStillsHouseStrongDemocracyKingsDictatorshipParliamentSwissHouses Of Parliament Author:Peter Bichsel
“[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
“Representative democracy frequently manifests a disconnect between parliamentarians and the people, so that parliamentarians have agendas that do not correspond with the wishes of the electorate. This has led in many countries to apathy, cynicism and large-scale absenteeism in elections. What is needed is not only parliaments, but parliamentarians who genuinely represent the wishes of the electorate.” PeopleCountryWishDemocracyNeededElectionScalesAgendasApathyCynicismRepresentativesParliamentLarge ScaleElectorate Author:Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
“Democracy has at least one merit, namely that a Member of Parliament cannot be stupider than his constituents, for the more stupid he is, the more stupid they were to elect him.” DemocracyStupidMembersMeritParliamentDemocracies HaveConstituentsMembers Of Parliament Book:Autobiography Source: Autobiography
“The parliament is the supreme decision-making and legislative body in any democracy. It reflects the collective desires of the citizens and makes laws.” BodyLawDesireDecisionDemocracyCitizensSupremeCollectivesDecision MakingParliament Author:Ziauddin Sardar
“Democracy, finally, rests on a higher power than Parliament. It rests on an informed and cultivated and alert public opinion. The Members of Parliament are only representatives of the citizens. They cannot represent apathy and indifference. They can play the part allotted to them only if they represent intelligence and public spiritness.” IfsPlayOpinionDemocracyHigherCitizensMembersIndifferenceApathyRepresentativesParliamentPublic OpinionHigher PowerMembers Of Parliament Author:Eric Williams
“If the government is vulnerable to public opinion, then famines are a dreadfully bad thing to have. You cant win many elections after a famine, and you dont like being criticized by newspapers, opposition parties in parliament, and so on. Democracy gives the government an immediate political incentive to act.” IfsGivingGovernmentPoliticalWinningPartyOpinionDemocracyElectionNewspapersVulnerableOppositionBad ThingsParliamentIncentivesPublic OpinionFamineCan't WinOpposition Parties Author:Amartya Sen
“We need some rules changes. This is an outrage that this, the oldest democracy has now, you know, ranked - when I say ranked 59th, it means that in the percentage of women, in our national parliament, our National Congress, is now ranks 59th from the top. That means 58 countries have more women than we do in percentage wise.” KnowsNeedsMeanCountryDemocracyWiseCongressParliamentPercentagesOutrageDemocracies Have Author:Eleanor Smeal
“In the referendum - which was still decided to take place by the Crimea's old parliament - the majority of citizens voted for belonging to Russia. This is democracy, the people's will.” PeopleStillsDemocracyCitizensDecidedMajorityRussiaBelongingParliamentReferendumsCrimea Author:Vladimir Putin
“But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.” PeopleCountryMatterVoiceSimpleLeaderDemocracyPolicyDetermineCommunistDragDictatorshipParliamentFascistsBidding Author:Hermann Goring
“It is quite possible that we will soon come to live under some sort of global despotism, enlightened or not. This is not a nice prospect. And there is only one way of avoiding that this happens: to establish a global democracy. And it is not too late to strive for such a democracy, of a straightforward populist nature, where people on the globe elect a world parliament, which in turn elects a world government.” PeopleWorldWayGovernmentHappensTurnsDemocracyNiceLateStriveOne WayToo LateEnlightenedGlobesAvoidingParliamentStraightforwardDespotismWorld GovernmentPopulist Author:Torbjorn Tannsjo
“Sorry, but we live in a democracy and the Government has to be responsive to Parliament.” GovernmentDemocracySorryParliament Author:Jeremy Corbyn