Robert Reich Quotes

My advice is very simple: if you can win a small battle, it gives you confidence in the political process to take on bigger battles, and so it is very much a bottom-up grass-roots way of doing politics.

The popular will cannot be taken for granted, it must be created.

It's a long time until the next election, but it starts now. And if you truly want to see things change in the direction that our country is headed, you have to stay involved. You cannot quit now.

People are even more wary of politicians and they are realizing that democracy isn't just about putting a cross on a ballot every four years, it's about deciding what you want and fighting for it.

We can and must move U.S. politics forward by means of committed participation.

You can't build a lasting political movement based on hostility to government.

Rock the Vote

Public policies in our democracy are eventually a reflection of public opinion," so public opinion must be reshaped if we are to avoid disaster.

We can't wait until elections to fight for what we care about. We can't hope for a benevolent leader who may choose to listen to us. We need a network that lets the best ideas and leaders rise to the top through an open, inclusive democratic process.

The reason that I started the Black Futures Lab is because I have some clarity about what I think needs to happen in relationship to electoral organizing. It's not a destination. It is a set of tools that we use to engage people that we care about, en masse, around issues that are important to us.

I want to be part of a family which wants to improve Indian democracy.

Progressives think the way to win is mobilizing and convince people to vote for something.

I brought attention to the fact that people need to be more involved in politics and not just let the establishment continue to control politics.

You put these politicians in office, but then you've got to tell them what you want them to do. And it's intimidating to most people. I was intimidated by it. I mean, calling my senator or writing my senator? I'm like, what do I say? What do I do? But we're showing people that the political process is actually less intimidating than we think.

We don't just show up at election time; we're there full time.

Being politically active is "more about doing things, not just standing for some platform or being involved in some political party."

We need to keep ringing the bell, wake people up to get our democracy together. Farm workers are like a symbol, and it is good that people are paying attention.

I really feel that political will is born out of popular will.

There's people coming in who've never done any politics at all, who've never been in a trade union, they've never been in a political party, they've never done anything, but they do feel a kind of urgency.

When you become active in the system and communicate to your representatives, and they don't vote in accordance with your values, your responsibility is to support candidates who will.

Party action should follow, not precede the creation of a dominant popular sentiment.

In order to have your voice be heard in Washington, you have to make some little contribution.

We vote - if the public votes 50 percent, we vote 70 percent. So we have a bigger impact with our numbers, and the organization and the manpower we can bring to a race.

I think you have to ask yourself does voting work on the level that you are trying to effectuate change; that is the conversation you must have.

We need to find a way to empower citizens to make governments take notice.