Eleanor Roosevelt Quotes

We as citizens should hold our government accountable for word and deed.

Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There's no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn't a gift. It's a responsibility.

My dream of politics all my life has been that it is the common business, that it is something we owe to each other to understand and discuss with absolute frankness.

We must know what we think and speak out, even at the risk of unpopularity. In the final analysis, a democratic government represents the sum total of the courage and the integrity of its individuals. It cannot be better than they are.

I will become a clean president. I will become a president who can retire home as an ordinary citizen and is welcomed by neighbors.

We should all be able to have faith that our governments are working in our best interests - and if they aren't, then they should be challenged and held to account.

And they understand that to be an effective member of a democracy, you have to accept responsibility.

It does not matter what party you are a member of in this great Nation of ours. Accountability and competence are characteristics that Americans value throughout our great land.

After all, I have spent the better part of my adult life insisting that government be open... that government be accessible... and that government be held accountable to people who voted us into office.

As far as the constitution allows me, I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. For I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch.

Remarkably, governments are beginning to embrace the idea that nothing enhances democracy more than giving voice and information to everybody in the country. Why not open their books if they have nothing to hide?

It always matters whether or not you can trust your government.

A democratic form of government, a democratic way of life, presupposes free public education over a long period; it presupposes also an education for personal responsibility that too often is neglected.

Democracy means not merely, I had almost said not so much, the rights of the whole people, as the duties of the whole people.

The trust that goes with public service is a heavy burden on those who would lead us.

Self-government can only be had by brave and clean people.

Among the foremost benefits of free government is that education of the intelligence and of the sentiments which is carried down to the very lowest ranks of the people when they are called to take a part in acts which directly affect the great interests of their country.

One of the greatest things that we provide in our democracy is the approachability of public officials.

All politicians will have to change to be worthy of our people.

I have been in public office and have been criticized. I do not object to it. A public official should be willing to be criticized. An agent of the people of this country should be called to account.

Democracies stand on several key pillars: Free and fair elections, human rights, the rule of law, and a free untrammeled media. Until 2016, an open media was seen as a resilient democratic pillar that supported the others.

I won't criticise anyone else's statements, and the public will make up their own minds. And if the public think that any side or any individual has strayed too far away from what's expected of public representatives, then they'll make that judgement.

Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with integrity is our core passion.

People should look at the government as 'us,' not as 'them' and not in terror.

It's crucial to democracy and good government to scrutinize our public officials.