Robert W. Welch Jr. Quotes

The connections I draw between human nature and political systems in my new book, for example, were prefigured in the debates during the Enlightenment and during the framing of the American Constitution.

The Constitution lies at the core of our civil religion.

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 the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Our founding fathers created a system of government of men, not of angels.

The existence of parties is not necessary to a free government.

A republic is little better than a government of devils

Whatever the People has last ordained shall be held as binding by law.

The people, have chosen to be governed under such and such principles. They have not chosen to be governed or proposed to submit upon any other.

The general laws of the kingdom may be enacted only with the consent of the king and the nation. If the king proposes a law, the nation accepts or rejects it; if the nation demands a law, it is for the king to consent or to reject it

The people of [a] country [who have] never been in the habit of self-government [will] not [be] in the habit of acknowledging that fundamental law of nature by which alone self-government can be exercised by a society, I mean the lex majoris partis. Of the sacredness of this law, our countrymen are impressed from their cradle so that with them it is almost innate. This single circumstance may possibly decide the fate of [a country.]

When one person can initiate war, by its definition, a republic no longer exists.

A republic—if you can keep it.

I've made the comment that democracies work slower than dictatorships. That's a true thing.

The masses are the material of democracy, but its form-that is to say, the laws which express the general reason, justice, and utility-can only be rightly shaped by wisdom, which is by no means a universal property.

There are a lot of benefits representative of government and it is far better than any type of dictatorial system and it is far better than a one-man rule situation.

Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule.

All the forms of civil polity have been tried by mankind, except one, and that seems to have been reserved in Providence to be realized in America.

It is foolishly thought by some that democratical constitutions will not, cannot, last; that the States will quarrel with each other; that a king, or at least a nobility, are indispensable for the prosperity of a nation.

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

The civilized world needs to think about a decision when single politicians are not allowed to stay in power.

I prefer, in a word, the republican system, because it comes up more nearly to God's system.

We're a democratic society. Shutting down the government should not be on the agenda.

Government is necessary for our survival. We need government in order to survive. The Founding Fathers created a special place for government. It is called the Constitution.

I think we Americans, of all people, understand the importance of a good, legal, constitutional framework as the basis of political life.