Ricardo Lagos Quotes

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.

The litmus test of democracy is the subordination of military power to civilian authority …

A democratic government must always be left free to be operated upon by the will of the majority of the time being. All that the government of the day can do is to ascertain what now appears to be the best principle.

In a democracy, the opposition is not only tolerated … but must be maintained as indispensable.

Democracies have to be careful that they do not become so process-driven.

I believe that sovereignty is the twin sister of democracy. If there's no sovereignty, there's no democracy.

Our Constitution gave us rights as citizens of a free democratic nation, but also placed on us the responsibility to always adhere to the central tenets of our democracy - justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.

Democracy must learn to defend itself.

We should never take democracy for granted. Democracy can emerge and develop, but it can also decay.

The constitution is a sacred document in a democracy.

I don't know whether it's age or maturity, but I certainly find myself committed more and more to the looser forms of Western democracy at any price.

I have a lot of respect for countries where the practice of democracy is highly developed. I think, however, that each country has to have its own specific features of democracy.

The principles governing Western democracies, of which Israel rightly considers itself a part, are based on the assurance that everyone has a vote, but also that the minority needs to yield to the wishes of the majority.

However, democracy cannot be defined as the existence of parliaments and elections alone.

We are losing the democracy that we're trying to sell in the Mideast and everywhere else right here in our own nation.

Everybody now seems to be talking about democracy. I don't understand this. As I think of it, democracy isn't like a Sunday suit to be brought out and worn only for parades. It's the kind of a life a decent man leads, it's something to live for and to die for.

The nature of a democracy consists to an important degree in the right of the people to criticize problems and mistakes.

As I understand the American Founders, the most brilliant and daring idea they had was that it's possible to create a free society that could stay free forever.

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

We believe that this is not right for a democracy to make revolutions the beacon of promoting democracy.

What if democracy does not serve liberty? This question is seldom asked in the West, where democracy is often seen as synonymous with liberalism.

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

While democracy must have its organization and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.

A good constitution is infinitely better than the best despot.

And that is my definition of democracy, the right to be in a minority and not be suppressed.