Political theory

Explore 233 quotes about Political theory

Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.

Lord Acton

The History of Freedom in Antiquity

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Topic

Freedom Political theory Politics

Author

Lord Acton

Source

The History of Freedom in Antiquity

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1877 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Lord Acton. "The History of Freedom in Antiquity." 26 Feb. 1877, Bridgnorth Institute, Bridgnorth, England, UK. Address.

The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over its government.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Topic

Safeguards of freedom Political theory

Speaker

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Medium

Radio broadcast

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1938 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. On the Recession. Fireside chat. 14 Apr. 1938, Diplomatic Reception Room, The White House, Washington, DC, USA.

We admit of no government by divine right, believing that so far as power is concerned the Beneficent Creator has made no distinction amongst men; that all are upon an equality, and that the only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed.

William Henry Harrison

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison

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Topic

Political equality Equality Natural law Political theory

Speaker

William Henry Harrison

Source

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harrison, William Henry. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1841, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

This peace we seek cannot be born of fear alone: it must be rooted in the lives of nations. There must be justice, sensed and shared by all peoples, for, without justice the world can know only a tense and unstable truce.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Second Inaugural Address of Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Topic

Peace Political theory

Speaker

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Eisenhower, Dwight D. "Second Inaugural Address." 21 Jan. 1957, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.

Alcuin of York

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Topic

The mob The masses Political theory Politics

Author

Alcuin of York

Source

Letters of Alcuin

Medium

Letter

Language

Latin

Time

800 800s 9th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Alcuin. Letter to Charlemagne. c. 850.

We are approaching the limits of what government alone can do. Our greatest need now is to reach beyond government, and to enlist the legions of the concerned and the committed. What has to be done, has to be done by government and people together or it will not be done at all.

Richard Nixon

First Inaugural Address of Richard Nixon

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Topic

Political theory American politics

Speaker

Richard Nixon

Source

First Inaugural Address of Richard Nixon Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Nixon, Richard. "First Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1969, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Third parties are like bees. Once they have stung, they die.

Richard Hofstadter

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Topic

Political theory American politics

Author

Richard Hofstadter

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hofstadter, Richard. The Age of Reform: from Bryan to FDR. Alfred A. Knopf, 1955, pt. 3.

The cure for the ills of Democracy is more Democracy.

Jane Addams

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Topic

Democracy Political theory Politics

Author

Jane Addams

Source

Democracy and Social Ethics

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1902 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Addams, Jane. Democracy and Social Ethics. The Macmillan Company, 1902, introduction.

Those who are called upon to administer it must recognize as its leading principle the duty of shaping their measures so as to produce the greatest good to the greatest number.

William Henry Harrison

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison

On the U.S. Constitution.

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Topic

US Constitution Utilitarianism Moral theory Political theory

Speaker

William Henry Harrison

Source

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harrison, William Henry. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1841, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

No man made the land. It is the original inheritance of the whole species. Its appropriation is wholly a question of general expediency. When private property in land is not expedient, it is unjust.

John Stuart Mill

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Topic

Property rights Redistribution of resources Political theory Politics

Author

John Stuart Mill

Source

Principles of Political Economy

Genre

Economic literature Political literature

Language

English

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Mill, John Stuart. Principles of Political Economy. London: John W. Parker, 1848, bk. 2, ch. 1, sect. 6.

Current Citation

Mill, John Stuart. "Principles of Political Economy." Principles of Political Economy with Chapters on Socialism, edited by Jonathan Riley. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 2, ch. 1, sect. 6.

Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters. Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice.

Harry Truman

Second Inaugural Address of Harry Truman

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Topic

Cold War Communism vs. democracy Communism Democracy Self-government Political theory

Speaker

Harry Truman

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Harry Truman Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1949 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Truman, Harry S. "Second Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1949, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

If parties in a republic are necessary to secure a degree of vigilance sufficient to keep the public functionaries within the bounds of law and duty, at that point their usefulness ends. Beyond that they become destructive of public virtue, the parent of a spirit antagonist to that of liberty, and eventually its inevitable conqueror.

William Henry Harrison

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison

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Topic

Partisan politics Political theory

Speaker

William Henry Harrison

Source

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harrison, William Henry. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1841, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Every country has the government it deserves.

Joseph de Maistre

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Topic

Government Political culture Political theory

Author

Joseph de Maistre

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1811 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Maistre, Joseph De. Lettres et Opuscules Inédits de Leibniz. Paris: Lagrange, 1854, letter 76. Originally a letter about Russia's new constitutional laws, 27 Aug. 1811.

Society is indeed a contract... As the ends of such a partnership cannot be obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France

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Topic

Political theory

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1790 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: James Dodsley, 1790.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Reflections on the Revolution in France." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the other the mass of the people... The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government.

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Topic

The masses Elitism Political theory

Author

Alexander Hamilton

Source

Speech on a Plan of Government

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hamilton, Alexander. "Speech on a Plan of Government." Constitutional Convention. 18 June 1787, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Current Citation

Hamilton, Alexander. "Speech in the Constitutional Convention on a Plan of Government, June 18, 1787." Alexander Hamilton: Writings, edited by Joanne B. Freeman. Library of America, 2001.

In the long run, the public interest depends on private virtue.

James Q. Wilson

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Topic

Civic virtue Political theory

Author

James Q. Wilson

Source

The Rediscovery of Character: Private Virtue and Public Policy The Public Interest

Medium

Essay Magazine

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wilson, James Q. "The Rediscovery of Character: Private Virtue and Public Policy." The Public Interest, no. 81, Fall 1985.

The fundamental Article of my political Creed is, that Despotism, or unlimited Sovereignty, or absolute Power is the same in a Majority of a popular Assembly, and Aristocratical Counsel, an Oligarchical Junto and a Single Emperor.

John Adams

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Topic

Tyranny Political theory Politics

Author

John Adams

Source

Letters of John Adams

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1813 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Adams, John. Letter to Thomas Jefferson. 13 Nov. 1813.

Current Citation

Adams, John. "1815: Adams to Jefferson: Quincy, November 13." The Adams-Jefferson Letters, edited by Lester J. Cappon. University of North Carolina Press, 1988.

No nation can longer be a fortress, lone and strong and safe. And any people, seeking such shelter for themselves, can now build only their own prison.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Second Inaugural Address of Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Topic

Isolationism International politics Political theory

Speaker

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Eisenhower, Dwight D. "Second Inaugural Address." 21 Jan. 1957, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait till it begins to abolish itself from below.

Czar Alexander II of Russia

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Topic

Serfdom Revolution Political theory Politics

Speaker

Czar Alexander II of Russia

Medium

Speech

Language

Russian

Time

1856 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Czar Alexander II of Russia. Speech to Moscow Nobility. 30 Mar. 1856, Moscow, Russia.

Current Citation

Czar Alexander II of Russia. Quoted in A Concise History of Russia, written by Ronald Hingley. Thames & Hudson, 1991.

Metaphysicians and politicians may dispute forever, but they will never find any other moral principle or foundation of rule or obedience, than the consent of governors and governed.

John Adams

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Topic

Political theory

Author

John Adams

Source

To the Inhabitants of the Colony of Massachusetts-Bay Boston Gazette

Medium

Essay Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1775 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, John, [published as Novanglus]. "To the Inhabitants of the Colony of Massachusetts-Bay." Boston Gazette, 6 Mar. 1775.

Current Citation

Adams, John. "Novanglus No. VII, March 6, 1775." John Adams: Revolutionary Writings 1755-1775, edited by Gordon S. Wood. Library of America, 2011.