Jose Angel Gurria Quotes

A growing number of people in this country do not believe that it makes a real difference who is elected President of the United States.

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

The democracy gap in our politics and elections spells a deep sense of powerlessness by people who drop out, do not vote, or listlessly vote for the least worst every four years and then wonder why after every cycle the least worst gets worse.

Don’t vote. it only encourages the bastards.

From the standpoint of democratic legitimacy, it's a problem if half the electorate, or close to it, declines to vote, not least because they may not feel much of a stake in the whole process.

In more stable political times, a low turnout in the E.U. elections was a luxury we could afford.

Is there any other democracy where the voters are as spoiled as they are in the United States? Especially, of course, in certain states, such as Iowa and New Hampshire, where the old joke is literally true about the citizens who say they haven't yet formed an opinion about a candidate because they've only met the fellow a few times.

I guess 35 years ago, I thought we had more of a democracy than we actually do. Majority support doesn't help unless the majority is active and votes - but the opposition minority votes a much greater proportion, so we often lose by a narrow margin.

I've voted in every election - not always for the same political party and never with any degree of enthusiasm.

I don't normally vote. I'm lazy and I never bought into the 'Every vote counts.'

Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.

Electoral turnout is falling among the young, and political apathy is on the rise.

Abstention means you stayed at home or went to the beach. By casting a blank vote, you're saying you have a political conscience but you don't agree with any of the existing parties.

All the blood is drained out of democracy - it dies - when only half the population votes.

The largest party in America, by the way, is neither the Democrats nor the Republicans. It's the party of non-voters.

Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.

There's an old rule of thumb in politics that 90 percent of all 90 year-olds vote and 25 percent of all 25 year-olds vote.

A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.

I don't vote and I got nothing to do with it.

The danger of democracy has always been the danger of an electorate seized by passivity.

Hopeless people do not vote. They don’t think that they can change anything anymore.

I've lived in New York state almost my entire life, so my votes never count.

Elections aren't just about who votes but who doesn't vote.

For too many years, those eligible to vote in primary or general elections did not bother to do so. Those sensible centrists who do not go to rallies but care deeply about our country effectively silenced their own voices. That sent the message to incumbents that they were either doing the right thing or that we just did not care.

Voting is designed for old people.