51+ Best Democracy Quotes To Inspire Budding Politicians
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Democracy has for long been recognized as the only acceptable form of government in our society.
There can be different kinds of governments established in countries such as monarchy, oligarchy and theocracy. Democracy has been the most preferred style of political rule due to the various freedom it allows its people.
Democracy has been one of the great forms of governance which ensure people their rights and citizens with an avenue to live their life freely. Many countries in the world have adopted this system and have given their people the right to vote.
Many great academics around the world have given their own interpretation over what democracy means and what democracy must do for the people. This article has some of the best democracy quotes to help aspiring politicians understand more about it.
If you liked this article on best democracy quotes, also check out the articles on equality quotes and Shirley Chisholm quotes.
Inspiring Quotes On Democracy
Democracy is not just the right to vote but is a great system which many nations in the world use. This subcategory has some democracy quotes on why it is good.
1. "If there were a nation of Gods, it would govern itself democratically. A government so perfect is not suited to men."
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
2. "The price of democracy is the ongoing pursuit of the common good by all of the people."
- Saul Alinsky.
3. "Democracy is not the law of the majority but protection of the minority."
- Albert Camus.
4. "Democracy is messy, and it's hard. It's never easy."
- Robert Kennedy Jr.
5. "The only way to practice democracy, is to practice democracy."
- Hu Shih.
6. "Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife."
- John Dewey, 'The Middle Works'.
7. "Democracy is not a static thing. It does not stand still."
- Vincent Harding.
8. "Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least."
- Robert Byrne.
9. "Democracy's worst fault is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents."
- Robert A. Heinlein, 'Stranger In A Strange Land'.
10. "The democratic tradition does not advance a single and agreed ideal of popular rule, but is rather an arena of debate in which the notion of popular rule is discussed."
- Andrew Heywood, 'Political Theory'.
11. "Democracy is a political method, that is to say, a certain type of institutional arrangement for arriving at political - legislative and administrative - decisions and hence incapable of being an end in itself."
- Joseph Schumpeter.
12. "Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Enlightening Quotes About Democracy
This subcategory has democracy quotes that explain why it should be spread around the world.
13. "The real safeguard of democracy...is education."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt.
14. "The main problem of participatory democracy is not how to run it, but how to reach it."
- C.B. Macpherson, 'The Life And Times Of Liberal Democracy."
15. "Democracy is not just a question of having a vote. It consists of strengthening each citizen’s possibility and capacity to participate in the deliberations involved in life in society."
- Fernando Cardoso.
16. "Democratic theory is concerned with processes by which ordinary citizens exert a relatively high degree of control over leaders."
- Robert A. Dahl, 'A Preface To Democratic Theory'.
17. "Democracy is four wolves and a sheep voting on dinner."
- Robert A. Heinlein.
18. "A democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience."
- John Dewey.
19. "Liberal constitutional democracy is supposed to ensure that each citizen is free and equal and protected by basic rights and liberties."
- John Rawls.
20. "Democracy: stored up in heaven; but unhappily has not yet been communicated to us."
- Bernard Crick.
21. "The method of democracy is to bring conflicts out into the open where their special claims can be seen and appraised, where they can be discussed and judged."
- John Dewey, 'Political Writings'.
22. "Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy."
- Kofi Annan.
23. "A democracy is a state which recognizes the subjection of the minority to the majority."
- Vladimir Lenin.
24. "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
- Winston Churchill.
25. "In the strict sense of the term, a true democracy has never existed, and never will exist."
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
26. "Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it."
- Alexis de Tocqueville.
Famous Quotes About Democracy By Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, one of the most well-known Presidents of USA was a passionate advocate of democracy.
27. "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."
- Abraham Lincoln.
28. "The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done."
- Abraham Lincoln.
29. "The ballot is stronger than the bullet."
- Abraham Lincoln.
30. "Elections belong to the people."
- Abraham Lincoln.
31. "Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity. Democracy will rise superior to the money power."
- Abraham Lincoln.
Democracy In America Quotes
USA is the oldest democracy in the world and aspiring politicians have much to learn from its democratic processes.
32. "Yet among the countries most comparable to the United States and where democratic institutions have long existed without breakdown, not one has adopted our American constitutional system."
- Robert A. Dahl, 'How Democratic Is The American Constitution?'
33. "Those who wish to reap the blessings of liberty must undergo the fatigues of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine.
34. "We are Americans because we practice democracy and believe in republican government, not because we practice revealed religion and believe in Bible-based government."
- John Stuart Mill.
35. "Deliberation and debate is the way you stir the soul of our democracy."
36. "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
- Isaac Asimov.
37. "Democracy is an unfinished experiment."
- Walt Whitman.
Aristotle Quotes On Democracy
Aristotle's democracy quotes are invaluable as he was one of the first to think, write and discuss it.
38. "Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal."
- Aristotle, 'Politics'.
39. "The real difference between democracy and oligarchy is poverty and wealth. Wherever men rule by reason of their wealth, whether they be few or many, that is an oligarchy, and where the poor rule, that is a democracy."
- Aristotle.
40. "If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost."
- Aristotle.
41. "In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme."
- Aristotle.
42. "Democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect they are equal absolutely."
- Aristotle, 'Politics'.
Quotes About Democracy As A Form of Government
Many political scientists think differently about democracy and its success as a form of government.
43. "The struggle for democracy has to be maintained on as many fronts as culture has aspects: political, economic, international, educational, scientific and artistic."
- John Dewey.
44. "We must learn to judge our social and economic choices by whether they empower the powerless, protect the earth, and foster true democracy."
- Jim Wallis, 'Soul Of Politics'.
45. "The best cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy."
- Edward Abbety, 'A Voice Crying In The Wilderness'.
46. "Democracy is never a thing done. Democracy is always something that a nation must be doing."
- Archibald MacLeish.
47. "Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt.
48. "Bureaucracy is not an obstacle to democracy but an inevitable complement to it."
- Joseph Schumpeter.
49. "If the greater part of the world in which they live is characterized by peaceful and prosperous liberal democracy, then they will struggle against that peace and prosperity, and against democracy."
- Francis Fukuyama, 'The End Of History And Last Men'.
50. "In a democracy the people choose a leader in whom they trust. Then the chosen leader says, 'Now shut up and obey me.' People and party are then no longer free to interfere in his business."
- Max Weber.
51. "Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike."
- Plato, 'The Republic'.
52. "Democracy is not so much a form of government as a set of principles."
53. "Essentially the fault lies in the fact that the democratic political process is at best regulated rivalry."
- John Rawls.
54. "Democracy is indispensable to socialism."
- Vladimir Lenin.
55. "In a really equal democracy, every section would be represented proportionately."
- John Stuart Mill.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotesfor everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for best democracy quotes then why not take a look at Declaration of Independence quotes or conservative quotes.
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English
Rajnandini RoychoudhuryBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English
With a Master of Arts in English, Rajnandini has pursued her passion for the arts and has become an experienced content writer. She has worked with companies such as Writer's Zone and has had her writing skills recognized by publications such as The Telegraph. Rajnandini is also trilingual and enjoys various hobbies such as music, movies, travel, philanthropy, writing her blog, and reading classic British literature.
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