Democratic Paradox Quotes

This is the 21st-century paradox: Even as political democracy has become the intellectual default mode for much of the world, the private sector usually trumps the public one when it comes to accommodating consumer choice.

Democracy is the form of government that gives every man the right to be his own oppressor.

Democracy is the only form of government which dislikes itself.

This is the Democratic paradox: You want so much to run America and yet you seem not so fond of Americans.

The office of the President is such a bastardized thing, half royalty and half democracy, that nobody knows whether to genuflect or spit.

The doctrine that the cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy is like saying that the cure of crime is more crime.

The more democratic governments bow to increasing demands of the electorate and spend money on public goods and services the more disgruntled the electorate becomes.

One of the many things I do not understand about Americans is this: what is it like to be a citizen of a superpower, to maintain democratically the means of planetary extinction. I wonder how this contributes to the dreamlife of America, a dreamlife that is so deep and troubled.

This is one of the paradoxes of the democratic movement - that it loves a crowd and fears the individuals who compose it - that the religion of humanity should have no faith in human beings.

Intriguingly, in poll after poll, when Americans are asked what public institutions they most respect, three bodies are always at the top of their list: the Supreme Court, the armed forces, and the Federal Reserve System. All three have one thing in common: they are insulated from the public pressures and operate undemocratically. It would seem that Americans admire these institutions, precisely because they lead rather than follow.