Barbara Boxer Quotes

We are not exercising our democratic rights properly. We need to stop looking for solutions in others.

We can and must move U.S. politics forward by means of committed participation.

... the even more fundamental task that lies before the leader of a democracy is to bring to the people the realization that true democracy is the effort of the people individually to carry their share of the burden of government.

I ask you to find your voice and use it not only to choose your elected officials but to shape the issues that will shape our lives.

My start in politics was watching my parents go to the polls on election day. It reminded me that being an active, engaged citizen and voter is critical to the success of our democracy.

When people get this consciousness of the way things are supposed to be in America - that the locus of agency is in them, that they are supposed to be the ones setting the agenda - if people believe this, they get very energized. Yeah, it's annoying to have this extra burden of saving the country.

But, you know, I'm sorry, I think democracy requires participation. I mean, I don't want to proselytize but I do feel some sort of duty to participate in the process in some way other than just blindly getting behind a political party.

Only a knowledgeable, empowered and vocal citizenry can perform well in democracy.

Citizenship is a tough occupation which obliges the citizen to make his own informed opinion and stand by it.

As citizens, we all have an obligation to intervene and become involved - it's the citizen who changes things.

And in a democracy, when we say we're mad at what's going on, what we need to be saying is we're mad at ourselves.

Every election matters. Anyone that tells you otherwise doesn't understand politics. That said, not every election sends sweeping messages that are easy to discern, but every election provides lessons worth learning.

As citizens of a free society, we have a duty to look critically at our world. But if we think we know what is wrong, we must act upon that knowledge.

People are even more wary of politicians and they are realizing that democracy isn't just about putting a cross on a ballot every four years, it's about deciding what you want and fighting for it.

The whole idea of a democracy is that we ourselves, the people, are supposed to make a path of our politics, and it is we who with our feet and our vote and our labors and our vigilance are supposed to shape our country.

God has called us to be His representatives in our nation and in our world. Select candidates who represent your views and work for their election.

Here's to democracy. May we get the government we deserve.

The only way to change is to vote. People are responsible.

Lenin strove constantly to get the people to understand that the leaders could not do everything for them, that they them-selves, with their own hands, would have to build a new life and defend their own state; in this he proved himself to be a real people's leader, able to show the people the way forward and induce them to take the first step forward fully conscious of their aim, instead of following blindly behind the leaders.

Government is not a substitute for people, but simply the instrument through which they act. And if the individual fails to do his duty as a citizen, government becomes a very deadly instrument indeed.

Vote: The instrument and symbol of a freeman’s power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.

Political action is the highest responsibility of a citizen.

Citizens are refined, cultivated, and very political. I believe in the legitimacy of their participation.

We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.

The price of freedom—of individuality—is attention to politics, careful planning, careful organization;