Michael Foot Quotes

On form of government, there should be checks and balances, and PM should be responsible to Parliament.

Do you think states' rights would have disappeared if state legislatures still elected our United States senators? Do you think our United States senators would be difficult to contact if they were named by our state legislatures?

The parliamentary regime is a regime of parties

Without party, Parliamentary Government is impossible.

All free governments must consist of two councils, a lesser and a greater.

You cannot choose between party government and Parliamentary government. I say, you can have no Parliamentary government if you have no party government; and, therefore, when Gentlemen denounce party government, they strike at that scheme of government which, in my opinion, has made this country great, and which I hope will keep it great.

In republics the executive must be strongest because everything conspires against it, while in monarchies the legislature must be strongest, because everything conspires in favour of the monarch

The British Government very naturally would like to see in India the form of democratic constitutions it knows best and thinks best, under which the Government of the country is entrusted to one or other political party in accordance with the turn of elections.

We are being held hostage by the people we elect.

I want to be a politician. I think I understand how the system works, I think a lot of politicians are corrupt, and it's about time we put some people in there who are going to look out for the majority of the people instead of the rich people.

Redistricting reform is one of the most important issues we can tackle.

The thing is that we live in a presidential system with a parliamentary constitution. Congress has a lot of weight in Brazil, and the president cannot always do when he wants; he does what he can.

When you hear politicians who won't fix the broken system talk about expanding it, don't buy it.

The Congress plays a central role in our constitutional structure.

Congress must control their MLAs.

I enjoyed Parliament being a proper elected MP.

We never said that we don't have faith in Parliament. We have great respect for Parliament.

What is the purpose of the electoral college? It has a few purposes. One, it's to restrain pure democracy. Very good, very important, that's a wonderful thing.

I went in to play the most corrupt politician I could possibly think of [in "The Congressman"] and to do it with a certain kind of charm.

I think to understand how the democratic process works is the most important thing, so people don't get frightened by it, and get put off, and give up.

A politician is just like a pickpocket; it's almost impossible to get him to reform.

I think Donald Trump understands there's a Constitution. And that those separate but equal branches of government give us a limited government. And he believes that.

I'm just saying that we need to find a better way to manifest the broader society's aspirations, politically. The key to it has to be some sort of proportional representation, which allows there to be more parties.

We Americans think we enjoy self-government. We have all the trappings of self-government, like elections. But in reality, we have gradually lost many of our rights to govern ourselves. We have the form of self-government, but only some of the substance. We are, in a sense, a nation run by a handful of judges who often enforce, not the law, but their personal opinions.

You can't always say what's popular and you ought to go with it. I think that's why the founders were concerned about direct democracy. That's why we have a republic and that's why we have representatives who who are supposed to look at the issues and to look out for the next generation as well.