--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In any civil society, there's a serious…" description: "\"In any civil society, there's a serious problem when confidence in the rule of law is shaken.\" — Margaret Hoover" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/margaret-hoover-4164_civil-society_in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-p_199205.jpg" --- # In any civil society, there's a serious problem when… ![“In any civil society, there's a serious problem when confidence in the rule of law is shaken.” quote by Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/margaret-hoover-4164_civil-society_in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-p_199205.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/margaret-hoover-4164_civil-society_in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-p_199205.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/margaret-hoover-4164_civil-society_in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-p_199205.jpg) > “In any civil society, there's a serious problem when confidence in the rule of law is shaken.” [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When people lose faith in legal institutions, society destabilizes and governance suffers. **In simple terms:** Loss of trust in law harms society. Key Takeaway Protect and restore legal confidence. Themes law society trust governance stability Mood concerned reflective Type analytical critical When to use this quote - political reform - community outreach - judicial transparency - media reporting Key Concepts rule of law social contract institutional legitimacy Questions to Reflect On - How can we rebuild trust after a scandal? - What safeguards prevent erosion of legal confidence? A Different Perspective Even with trust, systemic bias can persist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civil society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-society/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Rule of law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rule-of-law/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) ## Related quotes > [When we can identify a problem and face the problem with confidence and enthusiasm, the solution is on the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/when-we-can-identify-a-problem-and-face-the-problem-with-confidence/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [Rule of law is the most important element in any civil society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-ibrahim/rule-of-law-is-the-most-important-element-in-any-civil-society/) [Mo Ibrahim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-ibrahim/) > [Me being deaf isn't the problem. There is nothing wrong with being deaf; it's society that is the problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/me-being-deaf-isn-t-the-problem-there-is-nothing-wrong-with-being/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [If the woman picks the wrong man, that's not society's problem. That's her problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-schlafly/if-the-woman-picks-the-wrong-man-that-s-not-society-s-problem-that-s/) [Phyllis Schlafly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-schlafly/) > [See, I think our whole society is much too problem-solving oriented. It is far more interesting to participate in 'problem creation'... You know, ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-close/see-i-think-our-whole-society-is-much-too-problem-solving-oriented-it/) [Chuck Close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-close/) > [Drugs is a society problem. It ain't just isolated to sports or entertainment. There's people that are doing brain surgeries that probably have dabbled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-parker/drugs-is-a-society-problem-it-ain-t-just-isolated-to-sports-or/) [Dave Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-parker/) > [The state always poses a greater threat to society than whatever problem it purports to solve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llewellyn-rockwell/the-state-always-poses-a-greater-threat-to-society-than-whatever/) [Llewellyn Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llewellyn-rockwell/) > [Whatever basic science resolves, at some stage it is of use to society. The problem is we do not know when or where.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-dieter-heuer/whatever-basic-science-resolves-at-some-stage-it-is-of-use-to-society/) [Rolf-Dieter Heuer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-dieter-heuer/) > [I studied law before I became a filmmaker, and I actually have a great belief in the justice system and the rule of law.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-broomfield/i-studied-law-before-i-became-a-filmmaker-and-i-actually-have-a-great/) [Nick Broomfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-broomfield/) > [Rule of law is based on probable cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-swalwell/rule-of-law-is-based-on-probable-cause/) [Eric Swalwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-swalwell/) > [The first step in the direction of a world rule of law is the recognition that peace no longer is an unobtainable ideal but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-first-step-in-the-direction-of-a-world-rule-of-law-is-the/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“The Chinese state, from the days of the Qin, was an efficient, bureaucratized autocracy. Yet to this day, China has never developed the rule…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/the-chinese-state-from-the-days-of-the-qin-was-an-efficient/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [A country's adhering to the rule of law does not mean that its citizens will not do bad things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-inhofe/a-country-s-adhering-to-the-rule-of-law-does-not-mean-that-its/) [James Inhofe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-inhofe/) > [Overregulation corrupts citizens and weakens the rule of law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/overregulation-corrupts-citizens-and-weakens-the-rule-of-law/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [Any new legal measures, or cooperative arrangements between government and companies meant to keep people from organizing violence or criminal actions, must not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mackinnon/any-new-legal-measures-or-cooperative-arrangements-between-government/) [Rebecca MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mackinnon/) ## More by Margaret Hoover > [In my mid-20s I worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/in-my-mid-20s-i-worked-at-the-white-house-office-of-management-and/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [I think the Tea Party has brought enormous strength to the Republican Party and I absolutely support its fiscal responsibility message, yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/i-think-the-tea-party-has-brought-enormous-strength-to-the-republican/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [The real action in Washington now is actually going to be on the - from the center to the center-right to the right. Part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/the-real-action-in-washington-now-is-actually-going-to-be-on-the-from/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [Less money in your wallet equals less economic freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/less-money-in-your-wallet-equals-less-economic-freedom/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [Hoover also loved new media the way Millennials do now. He was the first person to ever appear on television. As commerce secretary, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/hoover-also-loved-new-media-the-way-millennials-do-now-he-was-the/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [I'm always trying to see the forest for the trees. I try to look at broader brushstrokes and focus on what we can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/i-m-always-trying-to-see-the-forest-for-the-trees-i-try-to-look-at/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [To effectively debate ideas and discuss complicated issues takes time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/to-effectively-debate-ideas-and-discuss-complicated-issues-takes-time/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [Some Republicans support gay rights, but prefer progress through legislative action or majority rule at the ballot box, rather than judicial action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/some-republicans-support-gay-rights-but-prefer-progress-through/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [Pragmatic and nonpartisan solutions will increase confidence in law enforcement and support good police while offering more transparency and accountability to citizens who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/pragmatic-and-nonpartisan-solutions-will-increase-confidence-in-law/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [I run a gay-rights organization from the Republican side of the aisle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/i-run-a-gay-rights-organization-from-the-republican-side-of-the-aisle/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [I'm not suggesting that we promote a homosexual lifestyle and we impose it on people, but I am suggesting that it is important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/i-m-not-suggesting-that-we-promote-a-homosexual-lifestyle-and-we/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [I think there's an extraordinary overlap between - sort of philosophically, and even in terms of their supporters - between Ted Cruz and Donald…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/i-think-there-s-an-extraordinary-overlap-between-sort-of/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [Hoovers didn't like Democrats because of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's libelous partisan attacks on my great-grandfather Herbert Hoover, tethering him to the Great Depression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/hoovers-didn-t-like-democrats-because-of-franklin-delano-roosevelt-s/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [While the reigning stereotype is that Republicans are opposed to gay rights, growing Republican support in state-by-state fights belies this perception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/while-the-reigning-stereotype-is-that-republicans-are-opposed-to-gay/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [One of the core pillars of the modern American conservative movement is its emphasis on personal responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/one-of-the-core-pillars-of-the-modern-american-conservative-movement/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) [Explore all 115 Margaret Hoover quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) ## More Civil society quotes > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Even if a civil society were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people inhabiting an island decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/even-if-a-civil-society-were-to-be-dissolved-by-the-consent-of-all/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [ \[T\]here are, at bottom, basically two ways to order social affairs, Coercively, through the mechanisms of the state - what we can call political… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-crane/t-here-are-at-bottom-basically-two-ways-to-order-social-affairs/) [Ed Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-crane/) > [“In Hobbes’ state of nature, when a male individual conquers (contracts with) a female individual he becomes her sexual master and she becomes his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carole-pateman/in-hobbes-state-of-nature-when-a-male-individual-conquers-contracts/) [Carole Pateman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carole-pateman/) > [“SHOW THE WORLD YOUR STRONG COMPASSION: GIVE YOUR VOICE TO VOICELESS YAZIDI GIRLS!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/widad-akrawi/show-the-world-your-strong-compassion-give-your-voice-to-voiceless/) [Widad Akrawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/widad-akrawi/) > [For achieving good governance political will is necessary. Good governance is a political process. Though role of civil society is critical, without political will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/for-achieving-good-governance-political-will-is-necessary-good/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [“Remember what the fashion big mouths were saying about Jessica Simpson? Looking at her magazine pictures, sucking their teeth, going, "Oh, look at her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whoopi-goldberg/remember-what-the-fashion-big-mouths-were-saying-about-jessica/) [Whoopi Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whoopi-goldberg/) > [Arresting opposition leaders and restricting civil society will not stop people from protesting, but it can create leaderless movements that leave no one with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-malinowski/arresting-opposition-leaders-and-restricting-civil-society-will-not/) [Tom Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-malinowski/) > [It's clear that it is in the best interest of business to be part of the conservation, along with governments and civil society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/it-s-clear-that-it-is-in-the-best-interest-of-business-to-be-part-of/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [“What is remarkable in Burke’s first performance,” wrote his great nineteenth-century biographer John Morley, “is his discernment of the important fact that behind the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-levin/what-is-remarkable-in-burke-s-first-performance-wrote-his-great/) [Yuval Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-levin/) > [Security against foreign danger is one of the primitive objects of civil society. It is an avowed and essential object of the American Union.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/security-against-foreign-danger-is-one-of-the-primitive-objects-of/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Everybody is satisfied, that a conservation and secure enjoyment of our natural rights is the great and ultimate purpose of civil society; and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/everybody-is-satisfied-that-a-conservation-and-secure-enjoyment-of/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“The state of civil society, which necessarily generates this aristocracy, is a state of nature; and much more truly so than a savage and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-state-of-civil-society-which-necessarily-generates-this/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Every government has signed up to a voluntary legal commitment under at least one of the international covenants and conventions based on the Universal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-robinson/every-government-has-signed-up-to-a-voluntary-legal-commitment-under/) [Mary Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-robinson/) [Browse all 322 Civil society quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-society/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In any civil society, there's a serious problem when confidence in the rule of law is shaken.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret Hoover" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-problem-when-confidence-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civil society" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-problem-when-confidence-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/margaret-hoover-4164_civil-society_in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-p_199205.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/margaret-hoover-4164_civil-society_in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-p_199205.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/margaret-hoover-4164_civil-society_in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-p_199205.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In any civil society, there's a serious problem when confidence in the rule of law is shaken.” — Margaret Hoover", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Margaret Hoover", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In any civil society, there's a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-problem-when-confidence-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/in-any-civil-society-there-s-a-serious-problem-when-confidence-in-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```