Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Quotes

Democracy doesn't work unless the public is informed.

Democracy in the contemporary world demands, among other things, an educated and informed people.

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.

You cannot have a democracy without an informed people.

In a democracy, citizens pass judgment on their government, and if they are kept in the dark about what their government is doing, they cannot be in a position to make well-grounded decisions.

Without an educated populace, democracy cannot sustain itself.

Journalism still, in a democracy, is the essential force to get the public educated and mobilized to take action on behalf of our ancient ideals.

A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or perhaps both ... And a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives.

We are a democracy, and there is only one way to get a democracy on its feet in the matter of its individual, its social, its municipal, its State, its national conduct, and that is by keeping the public informed about what is going on.

American democracy depends on the public's ability to remain accurately informed on our state of affairs.

We can't have an intelligent foreign policy unless we have an intelligent public, because we're a democracy.

The survival of democracy depends on the ability of large numbers of people to make realistic choices in the light of adequate information.

No amount of charters, direct primaries, or short ballots will make a democracy out of an illiterate people.

Let's not give the electoral process so much importance. We have to be cynical about it. Let's give importance to the real democracy that's constructed on a day-to-day basis. That's my hopeful perspective on it.

Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.

Improved turnout will give parliament and government the appearance of being more legitimate.

It is a paradox that far too few Americans participate in the wonderful ritual of democracy that we call Election Day.

No candidate dares to look for a new campaign model that could really enhance the democratic process. Instead we are left with the current one which makes our candidates look like hucksters.

America is strong because its journalism is strong. That's how democracies work. They're only as good as the quality of the information that the public possesses. And that is where we come in.

Deliberation and debate is the way you stir the soul of our democracy.

We are not educated well enough to perform the necessary act of intelligently selecting our leaders.

In democracy, every election is a learning process. You learn from every election, the one that you win and the one that you lose. And then you prepare for the next one.

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

You have citizens who don't understand how government works and they're kind of soured on it. All they do is criticize. They have no idea that they can make things happen.

Democracy, it appears, is a bit chancy. But its chances also depend on what we do ourselves.