“A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy….”— Theodore Roosevelt, theodorerooseveltcenter.org
“I have ever been opposed to banks, - opposed to internal improvements by the general government, - opposed to distribution of public lands among the states, - opposed to taking the power from the hands of the people, - opposed to special monopolies, - opposed to a protective tariff, - opposed to a l…”— Sam Houston, samhoustonmemorialmuseum.com
“When I invented the web, I didn't have to ask anyone's permission. Now, hundreds of millions of people are using it freely. I am worried that that is going end in the USA. … Democracy depends on freedom of speech. Freedom of connection, with any application, to any party, is the fundamental social b…”— Tim Berners-Lee, en.wikiquote.org
“Freedom of speech is not freedom for the fellow you love. It's freedom for the fellow you hate the most. And a democracy can't exist without free speech and the right to assemble. And that's what Americans tend to forget. And they're born into a culture where they take all of their freedoms for gran…”— Larry Flynt, cnn.com
“Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”— Reinhold Niebuhr, nytimes.com
“Unlimited campaign spending eats at the heart of the democratic process.”— Barry Goldwater, washingtonpost.com
“I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy.”— Coretta Scott King, en.wikiquote.org
“The only difference I ever found between the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership is that one of them is skinning you from the ankle up and the other, from the ear down.”— Huey Long, goodreads.com
“What really troubles me is that democracy is getting a bad name because it is identified with imposition and occupation. I'm for democracy, but imposing democracy is an oxymoron. People have to choose democracy, and it has to come up from below.”— Madeleine Albright, en.wikiquote.org
“When trouble arise among faraway people, we remain tempted to hide behind the principle of national sovereignty, to "mind our own business" when it is convenient, and to think of democracy as a suit to be worn in fine weather but felt in the closet when clouds threaten.”— Madeleine Albright, amazon.com
“People think they have taken quite an extraordinarily bold step forward when they have rid themselves of belief in hereditary monarchy and swear by the democratic republic. In reality, however, the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another, and indeed in the democrati…”— Friedrich Engels, en.wikiquote.org
“Governments, whether they’re dictatorships or democracies, reflect the people. When the people get fed up, they throw them out.”— Ron Paul, ronpaul.com
“This is the criminal left that belongs not in a dormitory, but in a penitentiary. The criminal left is not a problem to be solved by the Department of Philosophy or the Department of English—it is a problem for the Department of Justice….Black or white, the criminal left is interested in power. It i…”— Spiro Agnew, bartleby.com
“I believe we are on an irreversible trend towards more freedom and democracy, but that could change.”— Dan Quayle, books.google.com
“Marx grasped this essence of capitalist democracy splendidly when, in analyzing the experience of the Commune, he said that the oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them in parliament!”— Vladimir Lenin, marxists.org
“In a functioning democracy, the chief job of a politician is to be a teacher.”— Alain de Botton, twitter.com
“More importantly, though, is that calling the United States a democracy is incomplete; we are a (small 'l') liberal democracy: that is not only do we elect our representatives, but we also are governed by the rule of law and the guarantee of individual rights and personal liberty. That our liberalis…”— Ben Thompson, stratechery.com