If one meets a powerful person--Adolf Hitler, Joe Stalin or Bill Gates--ask them five questions: 'What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?' If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Asking powerful people five accountability questions reveals whether a system is truly democratic.
- In plain terms
- Ask leaders five questions about power to see if democracy exists.
- What can you take from it?
- Democracy requires accountable leaders who can be removed.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you ensure leaders are accountable?
- What makes a system democratic?
Another view
This framework may be difficult to apply consistently across different political cultures.
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