Visionaries on Iraq and Democracy

“The central question in a democracy is, can you afford to lose the election? If you try and fail, is loss total? Will you be jailed, your property confiscated, your family jailed or killed? If the consequences of loss are enormous, then you don’t let the ballot box be the final decision. Nor should you. The first thing we must do is assure the losers they can afford to lose, and that we will be there to protect them.” - Jerry Pournelle

“The government that emerges is led by a George Washington — that is, someone who governs with strength and dignity, standing above partisan politics, and when his first term or two is up, he declines to run again and power passes peacefully to someone who had been in opposition. That is the test of a new democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to an opponent because of a fundamental respect for the voice of the people.” - Orson Scott Card

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Visionaries on Iraq and Democracy

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