Valerie Jarrett Quotes

I trust the American People more than American Institutions.

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.

The democratic process is only as great as the people who participate in it.

Democracy, of course, requires strong demands from the public.

I think it's the height of patriotism to continue to exercise your right as a citizen and to hold your government to account. Isn't that what the very essence of democracy is about?

If everybody just stops caring about politics, we're going to lose the reins on our government.

Americans need to be engaged and invested in the legislative process that affects their daily lives, otherwise we are just democracy in name only.

Our constitutional democracy demands our participation, all the time.

Our democracy is not something to be taken for granted. You have to fight for it. You have to commit yourself to working for it - for the long haul.

There is a power in public opinion in this country - and I thank God for it: for it is the most honest and best of all powers - which will not tolerate an incompetent or unworthy man to hold in his weak or wicked hands the lives and fortunes of his fellow-citizens.

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

Our future cannot depend on the government alone. The ultimate solutions lie in the attitudes and the actions of the American people.

The value of government to the people it serves is in direct relationship to the interest citizens themselves display in the affairs of state.

There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.

You should always be questioning your government, but do not become cynical.

A government of, for and by the people, requires much from the people.

I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose interests in good government is less.

A government as good as the people.

Presidents come from the people and the should return to the people.

We are not perfect. Democracy is a messy business … Democracy depends on people getting and keeping involved … In our democracy, the government is not them; it is us.

We cannot safely leave politics to politicians, or political economy to college professors.

Public participation in the process of government is the essence of democracy.

It is citizen participation that nourishes the strength of a democracy.

Most men, being the ruled, not the rulers, want good government. If, without constraint, they choose bad government, it is by mistake

To speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.