Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes

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

The popular will cannot be taken for granted, it must be created.

Riot is the voice of the unheard.

Democracy is about aggregating the collective power of citizens to speak in their behalf.

The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government as sores do to the strength of the human body.

The mob shouts with one big mouth and eats with a thousand little ones.

Americans of all ages, all stations of life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations... In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all the others.

You cannot do anything without rousing the masses to action.

If you asked a Singaporean, on the one hand they'll say, 'Let us do our own things.' On the other hand, when an issue comes out, they'll ask, 'What is the government doing about it?'

You know the voice of the people is a very, very powerful tool.

Whenever democracy has fallen into a crisis, the Korean people have sprung up in rage.

Democracy depends on people speaking out, and in times of great crisis, on people creating a commotion.

Politicians are there to try to deal with stuff, but sometimes it's both fortunate and unfortunate that people like us have more... not involvement, but more power in the stuff that we say.

A people morally and intellectually equal to self-government must also be equal in self-defence.

Industrial capitalism brought representative democracy, but with a weak public mandate and inert citizenry. The digital age offers a new democracy based on public deliberation and active citizenship.

I hope you realize, in a democracy, laughter is assent.

By voting, we add our voice to the chorus that forms opinions and the basis for actions.

Party action should follow, not precede the creation of a dominant popular sentiment.

Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear.

Democracy cannot survive without the guidance of a creative minority.

Democracy belongs to those who exercise it.

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

The way people in democracies think of the government as something different from themselves is a real handicap. And, of course, sometimes the government confirms their opinion.

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.

I have always believed that on important issues, the leaders must lead. Where the leaders fail to lead, and people are really concerned about it, the people will take the lead and make the leaders follow.