Joseph Pulitzer Quotes

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.

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

And I think that every American - this is an all-hands-on-deck moment for America. And I think it is good and important that every American is informed, understands the issues and whether I agree with them or not, comes into the public forum and we hear from them.

The responsibility for good government lies not just with governments themselves but also with every other part of the system they operate in, including media, non-governmental organisations and the public.

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.

The value of government to the people it serves is in direct relationship to the interest citizens themselves display in the affairs of state.

If greater openness is a key to economic success, I believe there is increasingly a need for openness in the political sphere as well.

[Commenting on Shays' Rebellion:] The way to prevent these regular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs thro' the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people.

Democracy, of course, requires strong demands from the public.

Our democracy... is only as good as the American people demand it should be.

We want to make sure Arizona residents have the opportunity to learn about the decisions we are making and have a chance to participate in the process.

Our challenge is to restore both trust in Labour as a party of government and trust in democracy as the best means of delivering what the public wants.

The way you get democracy to function is by informing the public.

If you will help run our government in the American way, then there will never be any danger of our government running America in the wrong way.

Some politician some years ago said that bad officials are elected by good voters who do not vote.

The people of Zimbabwe have a responsibility to ensure that the government that they elected behaves properly.

You can't keep a democracy going in a functional and constructive way if only 10 percent of the people you represent think your institution is functioning in an acceptable way. That's just not viable.

Our democracy is predicated on the belief that our government should be accessible by the people. We cannot allow ourselves to give in to fear or shy away from interacting with the public.

Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There's no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn't a gift. It's a responsibility.

Democracy doesn't require a whole lot of work of its citizens, but it requires some: It requires taking a good look outside once in a while, and considering the bad news and what it might mean, and making the occasional tough choice, and soberly taking stock of what your real interests are.

Decision making in a democracy depends above all on knowledge and not just the intel available to presidents and policymakers.

It's unfortunate that there's such a disconnect between what's happening on our legislatures and what the public knows about, the consequences what that means for ourselves, our mothers and our wives.

Democracy is interactive... It's a constant job of information, education, explanation, listening, and interactive communication.

My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.

For politicians to be honest, the public needs to allow them to be honest, and the media, which mediates between the politicians and the public, needs to allow those politicians to be honest. If local democracy is to flourish, it is about the active and informed engagement of every citizen.