Edward Snowden Quotes

One of the best ways to stop the failed policies coming out of Congress is to bring in the ideas and the involvement of the American people, which the America Speaking Out project is designed to do.

For too long, decisions have been taken behind closed doors - tablets of stone have simply been past down to people without bothering to involve people, listen to their views or give them information about what we are doing and why.

Public decision-making does not lend itself to certitude.

If people think of public art as something the public decides, it's impossible to make anything of substance.

The people must know that from this day on, we want their opinions.

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

Democracy is based on the idea that the people rule and that the best decisions are made in public view.

A deliberative assembly should be formed, and all measures be decided by public opinion.

The science doesn't prove Common Core's effective. So I guess what I mean is science is an essential part of any decision-making process, and so is public involvement. And in the long-term, you lose legitimacy and power if you don't directly engage with the public.

The rise of civic society is not a negation of politics, but marks an opportunity for the involvement of the people.

I'm always trying to invite citizens to participate in the process of public decision-making.

What's wrong is that we are not participating to make this the type of government it needs to be.

It's up to the community now to decide if they want to keep this team.

Based on observations of the policies of my own government, I viewed this action as an acceptable option.

Unlike the Contract with America, which was created by Washington pollsters and insiders, Families First was developed from the grassroots up. Congressional Democrats from across the country spent months meeting with people back home, asking them what issues were important to them, and what Congress could do to make their lives a little easier.

Today, many people take for granted the notion that people whose lives are going to be very heavily affected by public policies should have a say in how they are formulated and carried out.

There are many ways of encouraging people to make life better other than joining a political party. Politics with a small 'p' isn't just about darkened committee rooms, endless meetings - it is about giving people the right to make decisions about our lives.

It is undoubtedly the business of ministers very much to consult the inclinations of the people, but they ought to take great care that they do not receive that inclination from the few persons who may happen to approach them.

the only vehicle through which we can get a clear-cut and unequivocal decision of the people.]

We shall determine all matters of state by public discussion, after assemblies have been convoked far and wide.

A democratic state must feel before it can see; that is what makes it slow to act. But the people, at last, will be right.

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: …

In the democratic countries generally, the great body of citizens are refusing to wait until negotiations are over or policies are acted upon or even determined. They demand to know what is going on and to have an opportunity to express their opinions at all stages of diplomatic proceedings…. public opinion will be increasingly not merely the ultimate judge but an immediate and active force in negotiation.

And I would like to have a good, productive relationship with members of the City Council, but I'm not going to allow them to undermine what the people's choice was and what the people want, which is change.

A robust democracy requires active participation.