Robert Moses wasn’t elected to anything. We’re taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected. He had more power than anyone, and he held it for 48 years. – Robert Caro
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. – Ralph Nader
Democracy is about institutions: it’s about having things like schools and judiciary and the Ford Foundation, or ‘The Nation’ magazine – you need progressive institutions, you know what I mean? Those are important institutions to make sure that the government functions. – Robert Kennedy, Jr.
However, democracy cannot be defined as the existence of parliaments and elections alone. – Recep Tayyip Erdogan
I hope that with the success of the transition to democracy in Tunisia that we will export to Egypt a working democratic model. – Rashid al-Ghannushi
I do think that we are facing a crisis in our democracy. As true patriots, each and every one of us has to speak up, speak out, and change those in charge. Our democracy depends upon it. – Robert Greenwald
I believe democracy will succeed in Tunisia, but I also believe that it will succeed in the other Arab Spring countries. – Rashid al-Ghannushi
To get back to the kind of shared prosperity and upward mobility we once considered normal will require another era of fundamental reform, of both our economy and our democracy. – Robert Reich
I think, as a general matter, clearly, the United States globally supports the development of democracy and the democratic yearnings of all people. – Richard Armitage
Similarly, it is argued that the culture of Islam is incompatible with democracy. Basically, this conventional perspective of the Middle East thus contends that democracy in that region is neither possible nor even desirable. – Recep Tayyip Erdogan
When you look at – when you talk to people in Africa and across the Middle East, they’re not satisfied with the way things are going. Sure, this idea of democracy was injected into the region, but it has brought mostly chaos. – Richard Engel
Social democracy… is only the advance guard of the proletariat, a small piece of the total working masses; blood from their blood, and flesh from their flesh. – Rosa Luxemburg
American democracy in the past has always been known for its large middle class and its relatively few very wealthy people and very few very poor people, but that is gone to today and the middle class is shrinking. – Os Guinness
Newspapers write ringing editorials declaring that this is and always was a democracy. – Robert W. Welch, Jr.
In a constitutional democracy the moral content of law must be given by the morality of the framer or legislator, never by the morality of the judge. – Robert Bork
You can’t have a free democracy if you don’t have a free media that can provide vital and independent information to the people. – Rupert Murdoch
Socialism, as I understand it, is a system of democracy. Without democracy, there is no socialism. – Wen Jiabao
There is nothing negative about a group of people crying out for democracy – and if my voice counts, I will be vocal. – Shirin Neshat
Everyone living under the social contract we call democracy has a duty to act responsibly, to obey the laws, and to abandon certain types of self-interested behaviors that conflict with the general good. – Simon Mainwaring
Is America truly a democracy? Has America ever been a democracy with the institution of slavery? – Tatyana Ali
We are not directly involved in Syria. But we will be working with our partners in the European Union and at the United Nations to see if we can persuade the Syrian authorities to go, as I say, more in that direction of respect for democracy and human rights. – William Hague
Ukraine is a vital link for Europe: our energy transportation networks; our location between the European Union and Eurasia. We’re the melting pot of Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity. The democracy we founded with the Orange Revolution has to be an example for other post-Soviet states. – Yulia Tymoshenko
I don’t see democracy getting better. I see democracy diminishing. More rules, more legislation. Eventually governments will see everything. – Taki Theodoracopulos
I have to give moral support to my supporters. If I’m not going to fight anymore, that might hurt the feelings of my supporters. They are fighting for democracy. They are fighting for the rule of law. – Thaksin Shinawatra
I always tell my students: I don’t care which side you’re on. I respect you too much to try to persuade you in 120 minutes a week, much less lure you into pretending that you agree with me. All I want is for you to own this democracy, to see yours, to have a stake in it. – Susan Estrich
Those of us who lived under communism for most of our lives were looking toward the Western world because of its values, emphasis on democracy, individual liberties and freedom, and economic prosperity. – Vaclav Klaus