Thomas Jefferson Quotes

I currently perform the most important political duties an American has the responsibility to perform - I experiment in self-government on a daily basis, fulfilling my "we the people" duties to monitor and guide our elected employees to adhere to their oath to the U.S. Constitution and demand accountability from them.

In a democracy, the individual enjoys not only the ultimate power but carries the ultimate responsibility.

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.

The government, whether state or central, is elected. That means we have a responsibility to elect the right kind of leaders.

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.

... we, the people, elect leaders not to rule but to serve.

In the political system, we are a team; politics and bureaucracy, we are a team. The politicians, bureaucrats and the people, we are a team.

I'm proud of Congress as a body. At the end of the day, we're the people's house, and we should be very mindful that we represent the people.

In a democracy, people tend to get the kind of government they deserve.

The true purpose of education is to prepare young men and women for effective citizenship in a free form of government.

A republic is not an easy form of government to live under, and when the responsibility of citizenship is evaded, democracy decays and authoritarianism takes over.

No free government can stand without virtue in the people, and a lofty spirit of partiotism.

After Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, I was heartened to see him issue an Open Government Initiative on his first full day in office.

To sit back and say, 'Oh, we're going to let the government do whatever they want, right or wrong,' is giving up.

The responsibility for good government lies not just with governments themselves but also with every other part of the system they operate in, including media, non-governmental organisations and the public.

I believe that people who do not vote in this country have no right to complain about the government that we are now living under. By the same token, if you don't really vote in television, you're never going to have your way. Write a letter to the president of the network.

Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.

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

A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.

As an American citizen, one has to vote. If we don't vote, we're not doing our part. We'll become some sort of oligarchy.

Every citizen has to figure out what kind of government he or she wants.

My task as a citizen is to get the government to do more good and less inefficient and wasteful work.

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

I feel it's a person's duty to participate in the governing of the country in which he lives.

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