Democracy Quotes by James Madison

Democracy was the right of the people to choose their own tyrant.

— James Madison

Democracy is the most vile form of government.

— James Madison

The growing wealth aquired by them corporations never fails to be a source of abuses.

— James Madison

It may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more constant to the public…

— James Madison

If we advert to the nature of republican government, we shall find that the censorial power is in the people over the…

— James Madison

Where a majority are united by a common sentiment, and have an opportunity, the rights of the minor party become insecure.

— James Madison

A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect and promises…

— James Madison

It may be concluded that a pure democracy . . . can admit no cure for the mischiefs of faction.

— James Madison

Democracies have been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general been as short in their lives…

— James Madison

The security intended to the general liberty consists in the frequent election and in the rotation of the members of Congress.

— James Madison

A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person.

— James Madison

By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are…

— James Madison

A government resting on the minority is an aristocracy, not a Republic, and could not be safe with a numerical and physical…

— James Madison

The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter,to…

— James Madison

[In a democracy] a common passion or interest will, in almost every case , be felt by a majority of the whole;…

— James Madison

The effect of a representative democracy is to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a…

— James Madison

The ultimate authority, wherever the derivative may be found, resides in the people alone, and that it will not depend merely on…

— James Madison

On a candid examination of history, we shall find that turbulence, violence, and abuse of power, by the majority, trampling on the…

— James Madison

[T]he delegation of the government, in [a republic], to a small number of citizens elected by the rest . . . [is]…

— James Madison

“It is *essential* to such a government, that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable…

— James Madison

“on Democracies: "there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that…

— James Madison

A pure democracy can admit no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will be felt by a…

— James Madison

Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security…

— James Madison

If we resort for a criterion to the different principles on which different forms of government are established, we may define a…

— James Madison

In republican government the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this . . . is to divide the legislature into different…

— James Madison

In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the…

— James Madison

“From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of…

— James Madison

Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the…

— James Madison

A pure Democracy, by which I mean a Society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the Government…

— James Madison

Frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured. But what particular degree of…

— James Madison

In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the…

— James Madison