Power Check Quotes

Of all the numerous forms that governments have taken over the centuries, of all the concepts and institutions that have been tried, none has succeeded in keeping the State in check. The problem of the State is evidently as far from solution as ever.

Opposition will act as an outward conscience and prevent the abuse of power.

Any who wield a large amount of power should always feel the check of power. The very principle on which the nation exists is that no person shall rise above power.

If there is any power in this country greater than the power of the people, we will destroy it.

But make no mistake, the President will find in our new majority the voice of the American people as they've expressed it tonight: standing on principle, checking Washington's power and leading the drive for a smaller, less costly, and more accountable government.

The best definition of journalism I have heard; to challenge authority - all authority - especially so when governments and politicians take us to war, when they have decided that they will kill and others will die.

Our maxim of that day [1776] was "where annual election ends, tyranny begins.

The only check upon our own exercise of power is our own sense of self-restraint.

The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.

Surveillance of power is one of the most important ways to ensure that power does not abuse its status. But, of course, power does not like to be watched.

We want to put power to the test of adversarial review.

Those government officials who want more power are not going to stop unless they get stopped.

Journalism has a check-and-balance effect to those in power, and those in power submitted themselves to it.

When you establish a powerful position, the first think you have to do is check that power and make it accountable.

The press is supposed to watch the powerful. And not throw in with them.

Real power is control. Knowing that you can do anything...and not doing it only because you can.

By ensuring that no one in government has too much power, the Constitution helps protect ordinary Americans every day against abuse of power by those in authority.

As Public Advocate for the City of New York, I have a duty to speak truth to power and do what is best for our City and its residents.

The Factor concept is very simple: Watch all of those in power, including and especially the media, so they don't injure or exploit the folks, everyday Americans. Never before in the United States had a television news guy dared to criticize other journalists on a regular basis. The late Peter Jennings, a friend, told me I was crazy to do it. "These people will not allow anyone to scrutinize them," he said. "They will come after you with a vengeance." And so they have.

A key purpose of journalism is to provide an adversarial check on those who wield the greatest power by shining a light on what they do in the dark, and informing the public about those acts.

Journalism is the only profession explicitly protected by the U.S. Constitution, because journalists are supposed to be the check and balance on government. We're supposed to be holding those in power accountable. We're not supposed to be their megaphone. That's what the corporate media have become.

No prime minister, no government can expect to be unanswerable or unchallenged.

In order to prevent those, who are vested with authority, from becoming oppressors, the people have a right, at such periods and in such manner as they shall establish by their frame of government, to cause their public officers to return to private life; and to fill up vacant places by certain and regular elections and appointments.

When people in power can operate in the dark, inevitably they abuse that power. So, you need outside forces to bring light and transparency to what they're doing. And, one of the ways you do that is through journalism, and through guaranteeing a free press. That is its purpose, to provide a check on those who wield power.

We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism.