Howard Dean Quotes

Every one of us deserves a voice that our president will hear.

You know, when we get to a point in this country where dissent is extremism, we've turned, I think, a very dark page in our history. And I don't want us to go there. I encourage Americans and I'm - right now, to go to these town hall meetings, to - to talk to your Congressmen, the people that you elected.

When the three branches of government have failed to represent the citizenry and the mass of the media has failed to represent the citizenry, then the citizenry better represent the citizenry.

Everybody has a say, everybody has a voice, because everyone that comes to the House had about 750,000 people they're representing. And you want those voices heard.

Americans feel frustrated, distanced, and disenfranchised from our elected government. We deserve more: a government in which we truly all have a voice.

No one questions the right of individuals to go to the Central Lobby to explain their views to their own Member of Parliament. It is important for those in power to hear arguments in favour of policies from all sides and ought to lead to better decision-making.

This is what people do in America. They get out. They demonstrate. They let their voices with heard.

The government must give men and women without power a real say over what happens to them, and the means of engaging in a participative, invigorated and living democracy.

Democratic power is the only voice most citizens have.

Most Americans aren't the sort of citizens the Founding Fathers expected; they are contented serfs. Far from being active critics of government, they assume that its might makes it right.

I would just like to say something, ladies and gentlemen. Something that I think is very important. It is that, you, we - we own this country. We - we own it. It is not you owning it, and not politicians owning it. Politicians are employees of ours.

I am not a politician or a military strategist. I am just a citizen voicing my opinions.

We need to find a way to empower citizens to make governments take notice.

Bringing democratic control to the conduct of foreign policy requires a struggle merely to force the issue onto the public agenda.

I begin to feel like most Americans don't understand the First Amendment, don't understand the idea of freedom of speech, and don't understand that it's the responsibility of the citizen to speak out.

If I'm elected president, I'll make people's voice the foundation of policymaking.

I’m an elected official so I can talk at any time or any place, light or dark.

Influence elected government officials, don't just elect them. Your right is to govern yourselves, not just to choose your governors.

The fundamentalist call has resonance because it invited men to participate… in contrast to a political culture that reduces citizens to spectators and asked them to leave things to their rulers.

We are not the consumers of democracy, we are its proprietors.

After 200 years, the 1st Amendment remains only as strong, or as weak, as the citizens it is designed to protect.

It is the duty of governments to create a pro-voter environment that encourages participation, but it is also the responsibility of citizens to make their voices heard.

I'm just an American citizen like everyone else and I'm not sitting at the power table in the room where it all happens.

Public opinion must be heard.

I think it doesn't actually matter what your political persuasion is, but if you are interested in the country that you live in and the way in which it's run, everyone has to do something about that.