Mary Robinson Quotes

America is just the country that shows how all the written guarantees in the world for freedom are no protection against tyranny and oppression of the worst kind. There the politician has come to be looked upon as the very scum of society.

We have a circle of corruption and impunity that is too strong.

Government by blackmail is incompatible with democracy.

As long as government exists, corruption will exist. It is an illness of government and can only be cured by the people.

The abuse of buying and selling votes crept in and money began to play an important part in determining elections.

All governments are more or less corrupt.

For government to be chosen regularly in free elections, the losers must trust the winners not to abuse the power they have won.

The Philippines, it has a politics of patronage. Family and favors, in addition to the old cliche of guns, goons and gold, really do still hold a lot of sway.

Still, corruption and oppression are far too common threats to the democratic society.

We see violence to forcibly seize land, at any price, murders and corruption.

I think the American government is now the most corrupt government in the world.

Jimmy Meng sought to be a power broker in the halls of justice. But the influence he sought to peddle was corrupt, and his power was illusory.

I think very poorly of United Russia. United Russia is the party of corruption, the party of crooks and thieves.

It is true that power corrupts. The hope at the polling stations and the actions of the elected representatives, unfortunately, often turn to be opposite. The power of ballot turns into the power of wallet. Some law-makers become law-breakers.

I knew President Yeltsin well. He would never have tolerated government officials demonstratively showing off the millions they acquired through corruption, the way it's done today.

Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too.

Surveillance changes history. We know this through examples of corrupt presidents like Nixon.

Dictators are allergic to reform, and they are cunning survivors. They will do whatever it takes to preserve their power and wealth, no matter how much blood ends up on their hands. They are master deceivers and talented manipulators who cannot be trusted to change.

In an election, there are no kings.

Politics is the most corrupt profession on Earth, no matter where you are.

Our tribunals — unlike those in the United States — have been traditionally subordinated to political power. Mexico has a history of corrupt elections where the will of the people has been subverted by the wealthy and powerful.

Either force or corruption has been the principle of every modern government.

… J. Edgar Hoover, whom you should trust as much as you would a rattlesnake with a silencer on its rattle.

Those guys [congressmen] lived on the basis of getting their little tidbits and their perks.

There are seats in the Senate for sale.