Indeed you can usually tell when the concepts of democracy and citizenship are weakening. There is an increase in the role of charity and in the worship of volunteerism. These represent the elite citizen's imitation of noblesse oblige; that is, of pretending to be aristocrats or oligarchs, as opposed to being citizens.

The rise of democracy was driven by the citizens' desire to escape from the paternalistic and arbitrary charity of those with money. They accomplished this by …

Canada was built from its very beginnings on the belief that public leadership in the economy and on social issues would be as effective and cheap as anything …

There is absolutely no reason why we have to deal with the mid-life crisis of our social policies by putting a bullet through their heads.

Seemingly endless negotiations finally led to the division of Czechoslovakia. It had one great advantage: it proceeded calmly, without violence, major conflict…

The state-initiated referendum has always been a part of this [anti-democratic] logic. Stop the talk, we're going to decide, yes or no. At this point the citiz…

Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.