J. M. Coetzee Quotes

Since James Madison day (and long before), there have been constant struggles over "democratic governance".

Having a vote once every four years is not the same thing as democracy.

I have great confidence in Taiwan's democracy.

We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, I can tell you quite honestly.

From literature to ecology, from the escape velocity of galaxies to the greenhouse effect, from garbage disposal methods to traffic jams, everything is discussed in our world. But the democratic system, as if it were a given fact, untouchable by nature until the end of time, we don't discuss that.

And so I have studied, I have to tell you, revolutions and uprisings for a long time. They are all slightly different, but what they all look for is some kind of a mechanism to go from an authoritarian system to an open, democratic system.

Turning politics into a spectator sport is one of the subtle processes which supports globalization. It converts or transforms the citizen from an actor to a spectator, with illusions of participation.

Africa must develop a genuine culture of alternation and opposition, without which democracy in any country, including the West, cannot exist.

Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.

If we believe in a democratic system, we have to accept the will of the people.

I am not running for mayor yet. But if it comes to be true that people cannot voice an opinion unless they have been elected, then we are no longer in a democracy.

Democracy is an objective. Democratization is a process. Democratization serves the cause of peace because it offers the possibility of justice and of progressive change without force.

You cannot have democracy without the institutions. You cannot have a democracy that is built on the moods of self-interested people.

The elections are the greatest symbol of participation and political reform.

We all have more at stake in the rules of the game than we do in the outcomes of the game. When that changes, that's when you begin to lose democracy.

In order to solve the climate crisis, we need to solve the democracy crisis.

All the more reason we need to stand up for our democracy now. If we're going to solve the crises that are barreling down on us, we need democracy, and our democracy needs to start with an open and inclusive debate. That doesn't mean 20 candidates. There are four candidates who are on the ballot for just about every voter in America.

But, Jefferson worried that the people - and the argument goes back to Thucydides and Aristotle - are easily misled. He also stressed, passionately and repeatedly, that it was essential for the people to understand the risks and benefits of government, to educate themselves, and to involve themselves in the political process. Without that, he said, the wolves will take over.

With all its faults, the American political system is the freest and most democratic in the world.

As far as domestic democracy, all here present know that democracy means government of the people by the people. While we agree that consultation and participation are essential to every democracy, this is seldom achieved in practice.

India is a democracy; it is in our DNA. As far as the different political parties are concerned, I firmly believe that they have the maturity and wisdom to make decisions that are in the best interests of the nation.

If the people of the Middle East are not sure what democracy means, let them look to Israel.

I'm such a sap for democracy and politics that I get weepy when I see anybody voting.

In the final analysis it doesn't really matter what the political system is...We don't need perfect political systems; we need perfect participation.

Democracy is premised, in some measure, on majority rule, and democracy is difficult in a situation of concentrated inequalities in which a large, impoverished majority confronts a small, wealthy oligarchy.