If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism if our government is to function it must have dissent.
quote by Henry Commager
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent.
quote by Henry Commager
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If government, or those in positions of power and authority, can silence criticism by the argument that such criticism might be misunderstood somewhere, there is an end to all criticism, and perhaps an end to our kind of political system. For men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.
quote by Henry Steele Commager
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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So I think that if we want to have a Congress, if we want to have government that looks like America, if we want to have government that is truly a representative Democracy, then we need to clearly address how we get our campaign laws out of the way of Democracy.
quote by Carol Moseley Braun
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To take an analogy: if we say that a democratic government is the best kind of government, we mean that it most completely fulfills the highest function of a government - the realisation of the will of the people.
quote by John Drinkwater
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith.
quote by J. William Fulbright
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Institutions - government, churches, industries, and the like - have properly no other function than to contribute to human freedom; and in so far as they fail, on the whole, to perform this function, they are wrong and need reconstruction.
quote by Charles Horton Cooley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
quote by Winston Churchill (11 November 1947)
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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People Power. A rant.
The people’s voice so long suppressed.
Has now been forcibly expressed
Egyptians want democracy.
The world is waiting now to see
if their demands meet with success.
The winds of change are blowing free.
So tyrants sleep uneasily
They fear to hear the people’s voice
but really they have little choice.
If people choose democracy.
They can no longer rule by force.
Its time to take a different course.
The people have the power to
discard the old bring in the new.
By just resisting passively.
I have no doubt that some will die
As the dictators vainly try.
To cling to power at any cost
a battle that’s already lost.
The people will sweep them away.
The western world must wait and
see what happens next uneasily.
We have no right to interfere
although we have good cause to fear.
The power games that people play.
The world is changing rapidly.
Because of new technology.
Information is exchanged,
the internet has rearranged.
What people are allowed to say.
They have the opportunity
to state their views quite openly
For and against the government.
Although it seems that discontent
is the major force in play..
The peoples will is paramount
They will demand a close account.
From those they give authority
to take control and over see.
the changes that they need today..
Perhaps we too need to review.
A process which is over due
Our concept of democracy
at least our foreign policy..
We do not have the right to say.
What other countries ought to do
Because they are entitled to.
Do whatever they think best
to pacify the deep unrest.
the people have the final say.
If they decide to give assent
to a form of government.
Which may not be democracy
but suits the vast majority.
We have no reason for dissent.
We may quite well learn something new
That makes us take a different view.
Of the systems now in place.
By which we choose our government.
Which do not work as they were meant..
The powers that be may disagree.
Because they do not want to see.
The fault and flaws that now exist.
Although they preach democracy
They breach the rules in secrecy.
Although they may control the press
and the media more or less.
They can’t control the internet.
If they are wise they’ll recognise
That people can see through their lies.
Sunday,13 February 2011
http: // blog.myspace.com/poeticpiers
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects.
quote by J. William Fulbright
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I always assume that democracy is the only good form of government, quite frankly, and democracy is always to be preferred.
quote by Jeane Kirkpatrick
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Democracy v Liberty
The fathers of democracy.
The ancient Greek philosophers
were dependent on slavery.
Which leaves me in a quandary.
How can it be democracy
to have such inequality?
I think democracy should be
a universal human right.
Though it is not quite obviously.
An ideal to aspire to.
Which one day might be possible.
The time has come now to review.
What we mean by democracy.
If everybody has their say.
It might well lead to anarchy.
When we elect a government.
The will of the majority
is what they’re meant to represent..
But it seems they rarely do.
This cannot be democracy.
the many are ruled by the few.
Who gain control quite legally
because their wealth allows them to
encouraged by our apathy.
The systems open to abuse
The people have the power to
insist on change; which we don’t use.
We vote or not just as we choose.
A facet of democracy.
I would be hesitant to lose.
It seems to me democracy
is something which we can’t achieve
and still retain our liberty.
There is no way that I can see
which will be fair to everyone.
I must admit despondently.
A partial democracy
is what we have and will retain
a curb upon our liberty.
You have no reason to complain
if you choose not to use your vote.
You have the freedom to abstain.
Sunday,16 May 2010
http: // blog.myspace.com/poeticpiers
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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For Government To Be Fair!
for any government to be fair,
every citizen has to be
just as important as every other.
every citizen has to have equal rights,
whether black or white,
rich or poor, gay or straight.
whether they believe in the same god,
in another, or in none.
whether they speak english,
or another language.
whether they are educated,
or not!
every citizen has to have an equal chance,
for employment, for education,
for housing, for love and happiness.
and every citizen has to respect,
both himself, and others...
this government should be
a government by the people...
any leader should be from among the people.
government, small in tether,
large in affirmation!
we're not anywhere close to this in America!
we have been sold out by our own greed,
and have chosen in our apathy to follow the lie.
now it's come to a head!
what we do next determines if democracy works.
what we do next defines our level of humanity.
call it democracy, call it socialism,
it doesnt matter what you call it.
what it has to be is redemption...
what it has to bring, is freedom!
finally!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.
quote by Robert Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Our Founding Fathers crafted a constitutional Republic for the first time in the history of the world because they were shaping a form of government that would not have the failures of a democracy in it, but had the representation of democracy in it.
quote by Steve King
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I dislike literary jargon and never use it. Criticism has only one function and that is to help readers read and understand literature. It is not a science, it is an aid to art.
quote by Anne Stevenson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In democracy
In democracy
Writ of the peole runs.
In democracy
Repesentatives should not
Called leaders.
In democracy
Representatives must not
Act as er whim.
In democracy
Representative should not
Show dictatorial style.
In democracy
Representative should not have
Arrogance of power.
In democracy
Treachery and
Ruthless decisions
Not good.
In democracy
The representatives
Should be sensitives
Towards sensitive issues.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
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So, two cheers for Democracy: one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism.
quote by E.M. Forster
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Two cheers for Democracy; one because it admits variety, and two because it permits criticism.
quote by E.M. Forster
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Now, al Qaeda's on the run. Afghanistan is no longer a base of operations. The Afghan government is a friendly government that is trying to bring democracy to its people.
quote by Condoleezza Rice
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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So now is the time, more than ever, for those who truly value all the principles of democracy, especially including dissent, to be the most forceful in speaking up, standing up and speaking out.
quote by Jim Hightower
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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