Ken MacLeod Quotes

I see corruption as a mortal enemy for young democracies.

Transparency and accountability must be restored in politics.

Those who were behind conspiracies against me and my government will be exposed.

Scandals are the fertilizer of Western democracy.

Politicians often claim secrecy is necessary for good governance or national security.

In Ethiopia, democracy is in its infancy and it must be nurtured along by its leaders.

It starts with campaign finance reform.

No sitting administration likes to see itself studied; no administration welcomes investigations.

Washington is a cesspool of non-accountability.

Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them being made.

Elections alone will never be enough to ensure good governance.

Africa must develop a genuine culture of alternation and opposition, without which democracy in any country, including the West, cannot exist.

You are living in an unreal world when you work there [the White House.]

What is called a constitution today is nothing but "get out so I can get in.

Can the public business be thus transacted and in secret?

There’s no town in the world that has the leaks that come out of this town. [Washington, DC.]

A dominion then, whose well-being depends on any man's good faith, and whose affairs cannot be properly administered, unless those who are engaged in them will act honestly, will be very unstable. On the contrary, to insure its permanence, its public affairs should be so ordered, that those who administer them, whether guided by reason or passion, cannot be led to act treacherously or basely.

Pubic business must be done. It will be done one way or another. If wise men refuse it, others will not. If honest men refuse it, others will not.

I want either less corruption, or more chance to participate in it.

Bureaucracy always seeks the path of least disclosure.

Secrecy is an instrument of conspiracy; it ought not, therefore, to be the system of a regular government

Authoritarian regimes in countries with weak, uninformed, or repressed civil societies will be less susceptible to transparency’s pressures.

The biggest issue that we have to contend with is campaign finance reform.

Corruption is one of the high priorities of my agenda.

Corruption is not the sole test of your worthiness to form the government.