Ferdinand Mount Quotes

There's much more we can be doing in Parliament, we could be giving more power back to people at local government level, through local referendums.

The more responsibility you can move toward local government, the better of you're going to be … City governments do better than their State governments in terms of accountability.

The White House is not where power comes from in this country. The cities and the local communities of this nation are prepared to save Washington - and not vice versa.

It is through states that the American people get the job done every day, often in spite of a deeply flawed bureaucratic federal government.

As more and more women, men and young people raise their voices and become active in local government, and more local leaders take action for the safety of women and girls, change happens.

Without the political parties and the volunteering work of their members day in, day out, we would have a very different sort of politics and society.

I know people don't like America very much, but the one thing it's very good on is local government.

My philosophy is not a bean-counting, accounting 'look at this.' It is a philosophy that smaller government is better government, and government that is closer to the people is best of all.

We believed that growth through Local Government, and perhaps through some special machinery for bringing the wishes and influence of women of all classes to bear on Parliament, other than the Parliamentary vote, was the real line of progress.

Devolution [decentralization of government] cannot stop at the State House. It must go down to City Hall.

We don't have an allegiance to either party. Our allegiance is to the issues that affect our community.

I recommend to you the subdivision of our territorial area into counties, suited to the wants and convenience of the people, with provision for the more minute subdivisions of townships, districts and precincts for municipal government and police. These subdivisions ought to be as small as the density of population may render possible. It is in these complete little republics where the sovereign power of the people is always in exercise, where self government has perpetual vitality and independent freedom is practiced and enjoyed.

Quite as serious an error [of the French] is the failure to provide for local self-government. As this lies at the bottom of republican institutions, and should be, moreover, the first concern of democracy

When you are not running for office, the people in the party listen to you more.

The value of democracy lies in the fact that good or bad government has its roots in the localities where people know each other and where they account for their actions to their neighbors.

A nationalist movement seeks its own country. A nationalist party seeks a country that will keep electing it.

He serves his party best who helps to make it instantly responsive to every need of the people.

Our best protection against bigger government in Washington is better government in the states.

what I love about city government is that the citizens can create whatever kind of city they're willing to build.

I think it is important the communities are listened to and that their voice is heard, particularly with local government boundaries more than parliamentary boundaries, because you are talking very much about communities. It can be a very emotive thing.

I hope that we increasingly shift power to local governments.

I've always believed in local government.

Getting money out of Whitehall and down to the town hall is also essential if we are going to address the crisis of confidence - and alienation - in our politics.

The thing about local government is they want to hear what local people think, but for the most part, their systems are so long, dull and bureaucratic that people only get involved when there's an issue they really care about.

You can have very big local government. By big, I mean very engaged government. Do you measure it in terms of the number of laws? Number of employees? You could make arguments for either one. I tend to think the axis of the size of government is the wrong concern. But I do think that situating power more locally is a legitimate approach.