Jane Byrne Quotes

I know of no better or safer human tribunal than the people.

A messy participatory process is representative democracy at its best.

If people think of public art as something the public decides, it's impossible to make anything of substance.

Democracy is based on the idea that the people rule and that the best decisions are made in public view.

In this country the government responds to the people, not the other way around.

Public opinion must be heard.

Democracy is a life, and involves continual struggle.

All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed. That is a milestone we left a long time ago.

Democracy is a daring concept - a hope that we'll be best governed if all of us participate in the act of government. It is meant to be a conversation, a place where the intelligence and local knowledge of the electorate sums together to arrive at actions that reflect the participation of the largest possible number of people.

I do not want the voice of the people shut out.

Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.

Increased town size hurts real democracy in two ways. First… it dramatically reduces the percentage of citizens who attend town meetings. Second, town size increases the number of citizens who attend, which dramatically reduces the percentage of these attendees who participate.”

If any ask me what a free government is, I answer, that for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so, and that they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of the matter.

The government is just us.

In our system of government, nobody has the last word except the people.

Elections are the means we use to establish the will of the people in order to assure the rule of the people.

A democratic state must feel before it can see; that is what makes it slow to act. But the people, at last, will be right.

If certain selected bodies of men, deputed on these principles, determine contrary to the wishes and expectations of their constituents, the people have an undoubted right to reject their decisions, to call for a revision of their conduct, to depute others in their room, or if they think proper, to demand further time for deliberation on matters of the greatest moment: …

Congress is the voice, the conscience, and the judgment of the American people

Whatever your political leaning, vote. This participation is vital. I feel the same way about issues like the space program, education, the military. The more the public focuses on these things, thinks and forms opinions, I think the better we are as a democracy.

To those who accuse us of being populists, we respond that if this means listening to the people, then yes, we are!

I'm always trying to invite citizens to participate in the process of public decision-making.

We the People' are the prime movers of the Republic.

If in a democratic country nothing can be permanently achieved save through the masses of the people, it will be impossible to establish a higher political life than the people themselves crave.

Jan Bhagidari is the biggest asset of a democracy. We are increasing it through MyGov, letters from citizens, Mann Ki Baat and other initiatives.