 |
| George Washington |
However political parties may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
George Washington, Farewell Address, Sep. 17, 1796
There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.
John Adams, letter to Jonathan Jackson, Oct. 2, 1789
(n) party, political party (an organization to gain and retain political power)
Princeton University
The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.
James Madison
The great constitutional power in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage...
Andrew Jackson
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.
Abraham Lincoln
Present Day:
I'm happy to get good ideas from across the political spectrum, from Democrats and Republicans.
Barack Obama
Conservatives believe in providing Constitutional rights to our citizens...
Mitt Romney
I think that the Democratic Party and progressives have really gotten confused in getting trapped in this debate about are you liberal or are you centrist?
Barack Obama
For decades, it was an unquestionable clarity to our nation's leaders that the people held the true power in America. The idea of political parties defining government was unthinkable. Today, American Government would likely collapse if the two dominant parties ceased to exist. What has happened to "the people"? We rely on parties to manage the government for us. We don't have to, but we do.
