Collective Decision Quotes

… when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an Assembly can a perfect production be expected?

… in a republic, who is "the Country"? Is it the Government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the Government is merely a servant -- merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. Who, then, is "the Country"? Is it the newspaper? is it the pulpit? Is it the school superintendent? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the whole of it; they have not command, they have only their little share in the command. They are but one in a thousand; it is in the thousand that command is lodged; they must determine what is right and what is wrong; they must decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Who are the thousand--that is to say, who are "the Country"?

All for the People and All by the People; Nothing About the People Without the People - That is Democracy!

A democrat need not believe that the majority will always reach a wise decision. He should however believe in the necessity of accepting the decision of the majority, be it wise or unwise, until such a time that the majority reaches another decision.

The Slavs were known to live in democracies; they discussed their wants in popular assemblies

Government of the people and for the people.

Deliberation is the work of many men. Action of one alone.

In a democracy the day when you pay your taxes, April 15, would be a day of celebration, because you're getting together to provide resources for the programs you decided on.

Politics is not only about personal choice. That one also needs to take into consideration what the people want because in the end, they are the ones who decide.

Every man, and every body of men on earth, possesses the right of self-government. They receive it with their being from the hand of nature. Individuals exercise it by their single will; collections of men by that of their majority; for the law of the majority is the natural law of every society of men.

Unlike the Congress, our party believes in democracy and takes a collective decision.

I always go back to Harry Truman: Should we drop an atomic bomb to save 100,000 lives? That's a hell of a decision to make. Did he make that decision by himself? No, he had advisers.

The reality is that government is a participative process.

Everything, everywhere, shall be decided by majority vote.

The 'wisdom of the crowds' is the most ridiculous statement I've heard in my life. Crowds are dumb.

A swarm finds the solution people best agree upon. It optimizes collective support, whereas a poll tells us how we disagree.

Government of the people by the people and for the people cannot be conducted at the bidding of one man, however great he may be.

Life is politics.

[The labor movement is] a movement of the working people, for the working people, by the working people, governed by ourselves, with its policies determined by ourselves.

The white people have no right to take the land from the Indians, because they had it first; it is theirs. They may sell, but all must join. Any sale not made by all is not valid.

The collective judgement of the Congress, with all its faults, could be superior to that of one man who makes the final decision, in the executive.

Democracy alone, of all forms of government, enlists the full force of men's enlightened will.

If you want to kill any idea in the world, get a committee working on it.

Democracy is a daring concept - a hope that we'll be best governed if all of us participate in the act of government. It is meant to be a conversation, a place where the intelligence and local knowledge of the electorate sums together to arrive at actions that reflect the participation of the largest possible number of people.

Democracy, at its best, enables citizens to debate collectively how the slices of the pie should be divided and to determine which rules apply to private goods and which to public goods.