Vicente Fox Quotes

Free and open communications is the best guarantee of democracy.

What is good for democracy is good for America.

Democracy is not theater - it determines life and death!

The better the information it has, the better democracy works. Silence and secrecy are never good for it.

A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy.

Democracy must live as it thinks and think as it lives

Democracy is not elections. Democracy includes elections.

Free media is very essential for the democratic process and... development.

No matter how imperfect things are, if you've got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable.

A basic tenet of a healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency.

But I think we need to remember that democracy everywhere is by its nature incomplete, a work in progress.

We've seen over time that countries that have the best economic growth are those that have good governance, and good governance comes from freedom of communication. It comes from ending corruption. It comes from a populace that can go online and say, 'This politician is corrupt, this administrator, or this public official is corrupt.'

Democracy is not simply a question of structures. It is a state of mind. It is an activity. And part of that activity is honesty.

I believe in the greatness of our democracy.

I tell you, in my opinion, the cornerstone of democracy is free press - that's the cornerstone.

You need a certain standard of literacy, moral and ethical values, to be able to run a one man, one vote system.

There can be no democracy without truth. There can be no truth without controversy, there can be no change without freedom. Without freedom there can be no progress.

What I'm thinking about more and more these days is simply the importance of transparency, and Jefferson's saying that he'd rather have a free press without a government than a government without a free press.

The merit of a democratic regime rests on one's continual willingness to exchange views, and to compete on the basis of individual merit and capacities.

As someone who is in awe and grateful every day to be in a country where freedom of the press, free speech and free elections are a way of life, I am wowed, amazed and excited by the opportunity to moderate a 2012 presidential debate.

One could always do more, faster and cleverer, but democracy has its own rhythm.

Democracy has always been in crisis: democracy is all about practicing the art of bearable dissatisfaction. In democratic societies, people often complain about their leaders and their institutions. The gap between the ideal democracy and the existing one cannot be bridged.

Democracy is not about making speeches. It is about making committees work.

Democracy is more than a ballot box.

So I think democracy, in the long-term, in our countries will survive if it comes to be associated with leadership, will not survive if democracy plus media brings to us more and more followship rather than leadership.