Aldis Hodge Quotes

We need to ask our policy makers and those we elect to office who are supposed to make decisions to give us the evidence of the facts that are behind the decisions that we make. We should be skeptical.

Public agencies should be criticized.

Is it not natural that a man who is a candidate for the favor of the people, and who is dependant on the suffrages of his fellow-citizens for the continuation of his public honors, should take care to inform himself of their dispositions and inclinations…? This dependant [creates] strong chords of sympathy between the Representative and the constituent.

Every time something has gone wrong with foreign policy, it’s been because the American people have not been involved in the process.

The disconnect between what people think and what the political leaders are actually doing is something that we really need to start raising.

The whole reason we organize grassroots is, we think any politician that gets elected needs to be held accountable 365 days a year.

I decided to run for governor because I got mad... I want to make government more directly accountable to the people.

I think people across America want a leader who's actually going to listen to them.

Part of the problem you have is that you don't have a dialogue between elected officials and their constituents. They've built these barricades, these barriers around themselves and tried to avoid interaction with their constituents.

I will run an open government that speaks with honesty, seeks opinion, listens to its citizens.

This is a country for, of, and by the people not for, of, and by the government. If we turn it over to them we cannot complain about what they're doing because this is a natural course of men and we have to hold their feet to the fire.

Canadians want to elect good people to be their voice in Ottawa.

Senators will do what they think they need to do to represent their constituents.

We represent people, and any good congressperson wants to know how their people at home feel about issues. I can tell you for sure in our office that is taken into account, and that is true for any congresspersons I know.

I don't think we've asked the right questions, the tough questions, at the right time, in Washington.

These days there are not enough of such intermediary groups, between the state and the individual, with the result that political leaders are often unduly guided by opinion polls.

People feel that in too many ways the EU is something that is done to them, not something over which they have a say.

If you're a politician and all you care about is staying in office, you're worried about a small group of voters in your district who vote in the primary. If you're a corporation, you need to be much more in synch with public opinion, because you're appealing to people across the spectrum. Ironically, a lot of corporations have to be far more democratic than democratically elected officials.

Voters do not decide issues. They decide who will decide issues.

The first line of the U. S. Constitution is “We the people” … in thriving democracies any time that any player takes a key decision that ignores or evades “We the people” he violates the spirit of democracy and condemns himself to illegitimacy.

It is a duty of those entrusted with the administration of their affairs to conform themselves to the decided choice of their constituents.

In this country the government responds to the people, not the other way around.

If certain selected bodies of men, deputed on these principles, determine contrary to the wishes and expectations of their constituents, the people have an undoubted right to reject their decisions, to call for a revision of their conduct, to depute others in their room, or if they think proper, to demand further time for deliberation on matters of the greatest moment: …

We don’t trust government, but we need government….Government didn’t land here from Mars. We elected them.

Public officials often learn a great deal from the concerns and objections of citizens. (I certainly did) …. those who have the privilege of serving the American public should listen closely to those whom they are privileged to serve.