The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Democracy is best protected by keeping power in the hands of the public rather than handing it to unaccountable elites.
- In plain terms
- To stop democracy, elites move control away from voters to private or unelected groups.
- What can you take from it?
- Keep decision-making power in public hands to protect democracy.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where should ultimate authority lie in a society?
- How do we make institutions more accountable?
Another view
Some argue certain complex decisions require expert management outside public reach.
More from Noam Chomsky
'Tough love' is just the right phrase: love for the rich and privileged, tough for everyone else.
Permalink to quote #8 No individual gets up and says, I'm going to take this because I want it. He'd say, I'm going to take it because it really belongs to me and it would be better…
Permalink to quote #10 I compared some passages of articles of [Robert McNamara] in the late 1960s, speeches, on management and the necessity of management, how a well-managed societ…
Permalink to quote #7
Related quotes
The strength of representative democracy is its ability to slow down those in power who wish to govern by blank cheque, but also those not in power who wish to…
John Ralston SaulJohn Ralston Saul quote #63 Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government, which sooner or later becomes autocratic government.
William Lyon Mackenzie KingWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King quote #6 Television has made dictatorship impossible but democracy unbearable.
Shimon PeresShimon Peres quote #13