David Brin Quotes

The effective functioning of our constitutional democracy depends upon the participation in public life of a citizenry that is well informed

The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.

But, you know, I'm sorry, I think democracy requires participation. I mean, I don't want to proselytize but I do feel some sort of duty to participate in the process in some way other than just blindly getting behind a political party.

Democracy is not just voting for your leaders; it's really premised upon ordinary citizens understanding the issues.

Democracy is interactive... It's a constant job of information, education, explanation, listening, and interactive communication.

Without an educated populace, democracy cannot sustain itself.

I always preach that you have to be active as a citizen no matter what, and some people just voting as an excuse not to do anything.

As a citizen, you need to know how to be a part of it, how to express yourself - and not just by voting.

For America to work, Americans have to participate. If they don’t pay attention, they’re going to get screwed.

Citizens are refined, cultivated, and very political. I believe in the legitimacy of their participation.

Democracy depends on well educated and engaged citizens.

We are not exercising our democratic rights properly. We need to stop looking for solutions in others.

I think it doesn't actually matter what your political persuasion is, but if you are interested in the country that you live in and the way in which it's run, everyone has to do something about that.

Individual actions are important because in any democracy, citizens need to feel agency. If you feel powerless, totally powerless, it's psychologically dangerous.

My start in politics was watching my parents go to the polls on election day. It reminded me that being an active, engaged citizen and voter is critical to the success of our democracy.

Bernard Shaw remains the only model we have of what the citizen of a democracy should be: an informed participant in all things we deem important to the society and the individual.

I believe that everyone should participate in democracy and enjoy doing it.

You can't be a full participant in our democracy if you don't know our history.

And in a democracy, when we say we're mad at what's going on, what we need to be saying is we're mad at ourselves.

Democracy functions best when we have an active citizenry.

There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.

Democracy is something that you must learn each generation. It has to be taught.

I expect we will become more demanding as citizens.

The first duty of an American citizen, then is that he shall work in politics.

As Americans, it is up to all of us to be well informed and thoughtful, to help our country make the right decisions in this time or testing.