Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj Quotes

All governments must maintain power by consent. Not by coercion.

Government is force.

In no form of government is there an absolute identity of interest between the people and their rulers

Government, in the last analysis, is organized opinion. Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government.

The will of the people makes governments legitimate.

Two great parties are forming in all nations. For one there is a right of government to be exercised by one or several persons over the mass of the people .... This is opposed by the new system which admits no right of government except that arising from the free consent of those who submit to it.

Resolved-1st, That the People are the source of all legitimate power; and, That We are the People.

I think the advantage of democracy is that it makes us less dependent on a group of leaders.

When mankind first saw the necessity of government, it is probable that many had conceived the desire of ruling.

The strongest and most effective force in guaranteeing the long-term maintenance of power is not violence in all the forms deployed by the dominant to control the dominated, but consent in all the forms in which the dominated acquiesce in their own domination.

Democracy is a process.

Rulers come and go; governments end and forms of government change; but sovereignty survives.

Democracy is far more complex than simply choosing the people who govern you.

Towering over Presidents and State Governors, over Congress and State Legislatures, over conventions and the vast machinery of party, public opinion stands out in the United States, as the great source of Power.

Legitimacy [of governments] is not bought by force; it is earned by the consensus of the people.

If the people be governors, who shall be governed?

As force is always on the side of the governed, the governors have nothing to support them but opinion. It is therefore, on opinion only that government is founded; and this maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments, as well as the most free and the most popular.

The people who own the country ought to govern it.

All authority belongs to the people.

The consent of the governed" is more than a safeguard against ignorant tyrants: it is an insurance against benevolent despots as well.

The more powerful the state, the more important it submit to widely held norms and consensual methods.

The authority of the people is a necessary foundation for a constitution

Counting heads is not an ideal way to govern, at least it is better than breaking them.

Democratic government requires the consent of the governed.

The British are a people who are generally happy, under normal circumstances, to trust politicians to tell us the truth and to leave them to run the country as we get on with our lives. But we reserve the right, always, to make it clear that they are our servants, not our masters, and, when necessary, we can and will take charge.