Dick Gephardt Quotes

There are ways to pursue political change. In a democracy, it's through the ballot box. There are other ways, and many democracies have many different systems of democracy.

A short exposure to the convention convinced me that the Internet may save the Democracy in that it is a way for the people, for the citizens, to have some direct influence on the government.

We have an electronic democracy.

A referendum is almost always a device by which governments get the voters to endorse what they wanted to do all along.

Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives.

I think the voters can make up their own minds.

The Internet is changing the way we think of our relationship with government; it has the potential to bring to life what Abraham Lincoln said about the presidency being an instrument of the people.

Democracy is not a spectator sport, it's a participatory event. If we don't participate in it, it ceases to be a democracy.

I'd like people to be educated on the voting machines, making sure that our democracy isn't being hijacked by computer technology. There's no reason there can't be a paper trail on those machines.

Voting is the foundational act that breathes life into the principle of the consent of the governed.

The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.

Trumpeting the importance of voting deludes people into thinking that they have a leash on the government.

Don't underestimate questions from the crowd; technology has made voters more informed than ever.

Many of the touted advantages of electronic voting can still be achieved with paper ballots if you use a computerized ballot marking scheme.

One of the chief principles for which I have stood is the genuine rule of the people. I hope that the people may be given the chance, through direct primaries, to express their preference as to who shall be the nominee.

... elections are no longer representative.

Before the century is out people will be voting with their computers.

the only vehicle through which we can get a clear-cut and unequivocal decision of the people.]

All voting systems are capable of being corrupted. most of them have been or will be ... simply because voting is the way we determine who gets power in this great country.

In a democracy citizens are entitled to know what is in store for them before they vote.

If we could, somehow, get a vote of the people of Tennessee and have it result properly, it would be worth more to us than a battle gained. How long before we can get such a vote?

Your vote is your voice.

We are the world’s greatest democracy but we are behind a number of other countries when it come to our voting processes… The good news is that most of these are problems are fixable.

The military establishment is an instrument – not a shaper – of national policy. Its members – as free Americans – are entitled to their views on the issues of the day, and they have every right to try to make their views effective through the ballot. They do NOT have the right, however, to use the military establishment to advance partisan concepts or alter the decisions of the elected representatives of the people.

In the democratic countries generally, the great body of citizens are refusing to wait until negotiations are over or policies are acted upon or even determined. They demand to know what is going on and to have an opportunity to express their opinions at all stages of diplomatic proceedings…. public opinion will be increasingly not merely the ultimate judge but an immediate and active force in negotiation.