What made democracy unique, in the mind of its inventors, wasn’t voting: that was just a means to the end. What’s unique about democracy is that it’ s the only form of governance in the 6000 year history of modern civilization in which the power, authority, and credibility of government is derived from its citizens, […]
Democracy Quotes
A monarchy is like a man-of-war, bad shots between wind and water hurt it exceedingly; there is danger of capsizing. But democracy is a raft. You cannot easily overturn it. It is a wet place but a pretty safe one.
The rule of majority does not mean that it should suppress the opinion of even an individual, if it is sound. An individual’s opinion should have greater weight than the opinion of many, if that opinion is sound on merits. That is my view of real democracy.
Democracy is a process, not a static condition. It is becoming, rather than being. It can easily be lost, but never is fully won. Its essence is eternal struggle.
There is no force so democratic as the force of an ideal.
True democracy is not inconsistent with a few persons representing the spirit, the hope and the aspirations of those whom they claim to represent. I hold that democracy cannot be evolved by forcible methods. The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within.
It is a besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which masses of men exhibit their tyranny.
The very essence of democracy is that every person represents all the varied interests which compose the nation. It is true that it does not exclude and should not exclude special representation of special interests, but such representation is not its test. It is a sign of its imperfection.
The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity.
In the true democracy of India the unit is the village… True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the centre. It has to be worked from below by the people of every village.
