In liberal democracy and anxious anarchy, the traditional classic dance, compact of aristocratic authority and absolute freedom in a necessity of order, has never been so promising as an independent expression as it is today.
The fate of every democracy, of every government based on the sovereignty of the people, depends on the choices it makes between these opposite principles, absolute power on the one hand, and on the other the restraints of legality and the authority of tradition.
Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal.
The potential for the abuse of power through digital networks - upon which we the people now depend for nearly everything, including our politics - is one of the most insidious threats to democracy in the Internet age.
I think our democracy has it exactly right: two terms, eight years. It's enough. Because it's important to have one foot in reality when you have access to this kind of power.
We need to intentionally invest in health, in home ownership, in entrepreneurship, in access to democracy, in economic empowerment. If we don't do these things, we shouldn't be surprised that racial inequality persists because inequalities compound.
The aspiring tyrants of today have not forgotten the lesson of 1933: that acts of terror - real or fake, provoked or accidental - can provide the occasion to deal a death blow to democracy.
My door will always be open to those who genuinely renounce violence and seek peaceful accommodation into our nascent democracy.
In Latin America, specialists and polling organisations have, for some time, observed that the extension of formal democracy was accompanied by an increasing disillusionment about democracy and a lack of faith in democratic institutions.
On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.
Candor and accountability in a democracy is very important. Hypocrisy has no place.
American democracy depends on the public's ability to remain accurately informed on our state of affairs.
In our so-called democracy we are accustomed to give the majority what they want rather than educate them to understand what is best for them.
If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.
Every economy exists, no matter what the level of democracy, has elements of crony capitalism. It's - given human nature and given the democratic structures, which we all, I assume, adhere to, that is an inevitable consequence.
Osama bin Laden has managed to replace fear of God and adherence to the Quran with his philosophy of jihad above all else. What's behind that facade is the true philosophical intentions of al Qaeda: the establishment of a new Islamic caliphate that will defeat democracy as the greater of the two political orders.
Democracy is not just constitutional and legislative rules; it is a culture and practice and adhering by the law and respecting international human rights principles.
A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person.
It is of course one of the great joys of our country, a beacon of democracy that the world admires, that every citizen is equal under the law - even the prime minister - and no one, not even him, is above it.