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People can be deceived by appeals intended to destroy democracy in the name of democracy. Dissenters who believe in the democratic creed may unwittingly advocate or legitimists may insist on preserving rules of the game destined to have unforeseen and unintended consequences disastrous to the stability and perhaps the survival of the democracy.

— Robert A. Dahl Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in an American City (1961)

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More quotes by Robert A. Dahl

One of the difficulties that confronts anyone who attempts to answer the question, "Who rules in a pluralist democracy?" is the ambiguous relationship of leaders to citizens.

Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in an American City (1961)

Is the ordinary person incompetent? No judgment is more decisive for one's political philosophy. It was perhaps the single most important difference in judgment between Plato and Aristotle.

In a magic show, mystification is a good thing, but it is hardly to be commended in an economic program.

After the Revolution? (1970)

The democratic process in governing a country is not necessarily enhanced by democratizing subsidiary parts of the process.

After the Revolution? (1970)

Even in a democratic country, it appears, nondemocratic forms of authority might sometimes be tolerable, perhaps actually desirable.

After the Revolution? (1970)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Robert A. Dahl (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.