Tony Blair Quotes

All government is a trust. Every branch of government is a trust, and immemorially acknowledged to be so.

In a democracy, power implies responsibility.

A republic is little better than a government of devils

For democracy to triumph, the natural predatory tendencies of rulers must be restrained by rigorous rules and impartial institutions.

Democracy sounded well and good, but its results are seen not to agree at all with its title. Monarchy, on the contrary, has an unpleasant sound, but is a more practical form of government to live under. For it is easier to find a single excellent man, than to find many of them.

To have good government, you often need less, not more, democracy.

when greed and fear are linked to power, you have a dangerous mix. We see that in political life. In part of the world, the mix of greed and fear means that those who get power become reluctant to give it back. One of the many things I like and admire in our democracies are the norms that make our leaders hand over power when voters tell them to

Democracies have to be careful that they do not become so process-driven.

If you believe in democracy, the overreach of leaders is a good reminder that vigorous public debate and time-consuming due process are not only more fair and more just, but that over the long term they usually produce better government, too.

If there is not competent Opposition, the government that comes to power won't have anyone to hold them accountable.

I like the idea of democracy. You have to have someone everyone distrusts.

Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.

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.

I think, at times of stress, you have to trust the pillars of democracy.

Accountability and democratic choice, I deeply believe, are guaranteed by rigorous scrutiny only.

What we are missing, utterly and completely, in this government is accountability.

Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation.

At least the politicians are accountable to the voters.

On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.

Democracy is not a mathematical deduction proved once and for all time. Democracy is a just faith fervently held, commitment to be tested again and again in the fiery furnace of history.

Nobody is immune to corruption. The difference is in how the society responds to corruption. Are the corrupt in jail as they are in Israel and most democracies. Or are they leaders in the government as in Palestine under the PLO.

Democracies do not begin and end with elections.

Nobody expects democracy to be efficient--individual freedom was the primary purpose of our founders - but it should function at least a little

Democracy is far more complex than simply choosing the people who govern you.

The litmus test of democracy is the subordination of military power to civilian authority …