Decline of democracy

Explore 9 quotes about Decline of democracy

Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.

Aristotle

Politics

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Topic

Economic inequality Decline of democracy Tyranny

Author

Aristotle

Source

Politics

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

350 BC 350s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Aristotle. Politics. 4th century BC, bk. 4.

Current Citation

Aristotle. Politics, translated by R. F. Stalley and Sir Ernest Barker. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 4.

Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants.

Alexander Hamilton

Federalist 1

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Topic

Populism Demagoguery Tyranny Decline of democracy Politics

Author

Alexander Hamilton

Source

Federalist 1 The Federalist Papers

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hamilton, Alexander [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 1: General Introduction." Independent Journal, 27 Oct. 1787.

Current Citation

Hamilton, Alexander. "No. I: Deliberation on a new constitution--Hamilton." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness. This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.

Socrates

Quoted in Republic, by Plato

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Topic

Tyranny Decline of democracy

Speaker

Socrates

Author

Plato

Source

Republic

Medium

Philosophical dialogue Dialogue

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

375 BC 370s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Πολιτεία [Republic], written by Plato. c. 375 BCE.

Current Citation

Socrates. Quoted in Republic, written by Plato, translated by Desmond Lee. Penguin Classics, 2007.

Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts and murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide.

John Adams

Read this letter at the National Archives website

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Topic

Decline of democracy Democracy Political theory Politics

Author

John Adams

Source

Letters of John Adams

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1814 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Adams, John. Letter to John Taylor. 17 Dec. 1814.

Current Citation

Adams, John. “From John Adams to John Taylor, 17 December 1814,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-6371.

Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.

James Madison

Federalist 10

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Topic

Political instability Democracy Decline of democracy Politics

Author

James Madison

Source

Federalist 10 The Federalist Papers

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Madison, James [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 10: The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection." Daily Advertiser, 22 Nov. 1787.

Current Citation

Madison, James. "No. 10: An extensive republic a remedy for mischiefs of faction.--Madison." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist.

Edmund Burke

More information about this quote

Topic

Decline of democracy Democracy Freedom Moral decline Morality

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Letters of Edmund Burke

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1777 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. A Letter to John Farr and John Harris, Esqs., Sheriffs of the City of Bristol, on the Affairs of America. London: J. Dodsley, 3 Apr. 1777.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "A Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol on the Affairs of America." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

After each war there is a little less democracy to save.

Brooks Atkinson

More information about this quote

Topic

Decline of democracy War Democracy

Author

Brooks Atkinson

Source

Once Around the Sun

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Atkinson, Brooks. Once Around the Sun. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1951.

The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.

Robert Maynard Hutchins

More information about this quote

Topic

Decline of democracy Political theory

Author

Robert Maynard Hutchins

Genre

Historical literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1954 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hutchins, Robert Maynard. Great Books: The Foundation of a Liberal Education. Simon and Schuster, 1954.

While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short space of four years.

Abraham Lincoln

First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

Decline of democracy Government Political theory Politics

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1861 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "First Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1861, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "First Inaugral Address, March 4, 1861." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.