Home / Topics / Democracy Quotes

Democracy Quotes

Browse 5972 quotes about Democracy.

Democracy Quotes

“Many Americans do not realize that we could institute proportional representation for most elections in the U.S. without amending the Constitution. In helping to educate the public about the potential for voting system reform, CVD can play a central role in a pro-democracy movement right here in America!”

Play Helping America Realizing Roles Democracy Movement Constitution Election Reform Voting Educate Representation Institute Amending The Constitution Proportional Representation

Author:John Anderson

“Rights are not the language of democracy. Compromise is what democracy is about. Rights are the language of freedom, and are absolute because their role is to protect our liberty. By using the absolute power of freedom to accomplish reforms of democracy, we have undermined democracy and diminished our freedom.”

Language Liberty Roles Democracy Rights Protect Absolutes Accomplish Compromise Reform Absolute Power

Book:The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America

Source: The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America

“Everybody has the right to speak up in a democracy. We would be in trouble as a society if there wasn't a constant pressure to make reforms and to be just. Sometimes as prime minister, when i was caught up in a really loud demonstration, I used to say to myself that I deserved it because of all the demonstrations I myself had organized as a student against Duplessis.”

Ifs Sometimes Would Be Used Speak Democracy Trouble Students Pressure Constant Caught Reform Loud Ministers Organized Prime Caught Up Prime Minister Demonstration

Author:Jean Chretien

“As a prisoner of conscience committed to peaceful transition to democracy, I urge Europe to apply economic sanctions against Ethiopia. What short-term pain may result will be compensated by long-term gain. A pledge to re-engage energetically with a democratic Ethiopia would act as a catalyst for reform.”

“We all know that election reform takes time. That's because those who have benefited from the system are the ones who fight hardest to preserve it. So if we're going to succeed, we need an independent coalition of citizens who believe in reform, who believe that our election laws should treat every voter equally, who believe that low levels of competition and participation are not healthy for democracy. The Independence Party is helping to build that coalition and I am happy to join you in doing so.”

“The problem with the West is that they start with political reform going towards democracy. If you want to go towards democracy, the first thing is to involve the people in decision making, not to make it.”

People Ifs Want Firsts Problem Political Decision Democracy West Reform Decision Making Political Reform

Author:Bashar al-Assad

“It is time to provide a smashing answer for those cynical men who say that a democracy cannot be honest, cannot be efficient.... We have in the darkest moments of our national trials retained our faith in our own ability to master our own destiny.”

Men Moments Ability Answers Destiny Democracy Honest Masters Trials Reform Being Honest Relief Cynical Efficient Smashing

Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt

“I salute all the nations of the Arab Spring and I salute the heroic people of Syria who are striving for freedom, democracy and reform.”

People Nations Democracy Spring Strive Reform Heroic Syria Salute Arab Spring

Author:Ismail Haniyeh

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

Problem Political Democracy West Reform Political Reform

Author:Bashar al-Assad

“There's no doubt that in the last two to three decades, American democracy has been hacked. It was based on the regular harvesting of the wisdom of crowds, but now big sources of special interest money are able to prevent the passage of almost any meaningful reform that's aimed at the public interest.”

“Creative accounting is an absolute curse to a civilization. One could argue that double-entry bookkeeping was one of history's great advances. Using accounting for fraud and folly is a disgrace. In a democracy, it often takes a scandal to trigger reform. Enron was the most obvious example of a business culture gone wrong in a long, long time.”

“There are two reforms that we need to restore our democracy. The first is campaign finance. We need to get the corporate money out of the election process. And second, we need to resolve the dysfunction in the environment. Looters are running agencies that are supposed to be protecting us from pollution.”

“[James] Madison pointed out in the discussion of the constitutional debates - the constitutional convention - that democracy would be a danger. He used England of course as the model and said suppose that in England everyone had the free right to vote; the poor, the propertyless - who are the great majority - would use their voting power to take away the rights of property owners to carry out what we would call land reform.”