James MacGregor Burns Quotes

If one of my colleagues wants to block a bill, they should stand up in front of the American people and explain why.

If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonal experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations.

The respect of the American people for the Congress has been increased. They can see the Congress as a vigilant Congress.

If we have a mediocre Congress—even when it manages to accomplish something—it is because of the people in it and the culture they have created.

I enjoyed my stay in the Congress. Most people do not. And too many people who have been elected really don't understand the nature of government.

I think if more members of Congress would talk about what they see and what they want to do and what they want to accomplish, rather than talking about their opponent, we would begin to shape and reshape American public opinion on what the political world looks like.

Senators will do what they think they need to do to represent their constituents.

We have a government that, generally speaking, does not respond to the people.

Let a bill, or law, be read, in the one branch or the other, every one instantly thinks how it will affect his constituents.

I think the media has been in denial just like the party regulars have been in denial. They just don't understand that the government that we have today is not what the people want as a government.

When it comes to listening to my constituents or to the governor's staff, who are more interested in their pet projects and their government cars, I'll vote for my constituents every time.

We need citizens willing to make Congress accountable for the travesty which passes for government today.

It is a duty of those entrusted with the administration of their affairs to conform themselves to the decided choice of their constituents.

The members of Congress are very, very good about sensing what people are upset about.

You cannot punish the people for the mistakes the politicians make.

We don’t trust government, but we need government….Government didn’t land here from Mars. We elected them.

A new Gallup poll shows that only 1 in 10 Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. A 10 percent approval rating is about the same approval rating that rabies has.

… once you acknowledge the fact that Congress is after all made up of citizens elected to represent all of us, you must have some faith in their framing common sense laws.

It is necessary to have lived in this insulator which is called the national assembly, in order to perceive how the men who are the most completely ignorant of the state of the country are almost always the ones who represent it.

That's what representative democracy is about, is members going to Washington but coming home and answering the tough questions.

Members of Congress are people too.

The inertia of the governed cannot be disentangled from the indifference of the government. American leaders have both a circular and a deliberate relationship to public opinion.

No one questions the right of individuals to go to the Central Lobby to explain their views to their own Member of Parliament. It is important for those in power to hear arguments in favour of policies from all sides and ought to lead to better decision-making.

Like anyone who follows politics, I am sometimes mesmerized by the twisted and relentless drama playing out in Washington. But I also know about the price of distraction - the consequences of our attention being diverted from how politics affects daily life.

The disconnect between what people think and what the political leaders are actually doing is something that we really need to start raising.