Peter Hitchens Quotes

Openness, transparency - these are among the few weapons the citizenry has to protect itself from the powerful and the corrupt... and that is the best thing that WikiLeaks has done.

When a citizen gives his suffrage to a man of known immorality he abuses his trust; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor; he betrays the interest of his country.

Democracy is not elections. Democracy includes elections.

What they were seeking to steal was not the jewels, money or other property of American citizens, but something much more valuable—their most precious heritage, the right to vote in a free election.

Citizens everywhere should be able to choose their leaders in climates free of fear.

Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of press and assembly, without a free struggle of opinion, life dies out in every public institution, becomes a mere semblance of life, in which only the bureaucracy remains as the active element.

Free and fair elections does not mean democracy.

Usually the public is better off with more information than less. That includes information the government would like to keep quiet.

When it comes to governments and corporations, we should demand that less is secret. That's where corruption flowers.

The American people's vote can't be bought.

Elections matter, but how much they matter depends entirely on how free, open and fair they are.

The American public should simply accept no distractions. In our democracy, it is our duty to hold our elected leaders accountable. We do it at the ballot box.

It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting.

It shouldn't take extreme courage and a willingness to go to prison for decades or even life to blow the whistle on bad government acts done in secret. But it does. And that is an immense problem for democracy, one that all journalists should be united in fighting.

I think the good old British democracy should keep scrutinising and pressing to get the truth out.

I'm not going to reduce the choices of Canadians at the ballot box by backroom deals or secret arrangements. I think that's a cause for cynicism more than anything else.

It is in the public interest to know what our governors are up to. If they are up to doing good, then they are only too happy to let us know. When they are up to no good, they want that kept secret.

The secret ballot makes a secret government; and a secret government is a secret band of robbers and murderers.

Well, I couldn't do the day-to-day stuff of being a politician or anything, but I just think everybody should have an opinion and everybody should vote, and that's what we're built on.

You must see the persons who are in charge - persons you can punish or vote for.

At least the politicians are accountable to the voters.

National security laws must protect national security. But they must also protect the public trust and preserve the ability of an informed electorate to hold its government to account.

I shall not vote because I do not aspire to advise my sovereign on the choice of her servants.

Elections belong to the people. It is their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.

When moral principles, rather than persons, are candidates for power, to vote is to perform a moral duty, and not to vote is to neglect a duty