Democracy is constructed like an edifice, freedom by freedom, right by right, until it reaches its snapping point.
In the past, the West had tried to export one formula of democracy which should fit to the rest of the world, and they discovered that this doesn't work.
I told the students that we can exert pressure without resorting to violence, and that we can move towards democracy without violence; that way, God will allow it.
We want to be, I think, an example for the rest of the Arab world, because there are a lot of people who say that the only democracy you can have in the Middle East is the Muslim Brotherhood.
Jordan has to show the Arab world that there's another way of doing things. We're a monarchy, yes, but if we can show democracy that leads to a two-, three-, four-party system - left, right and center - in a couple of years' time, then the Muslim Brotherhood will no longer be something to contend with.
I think the success of democracy is not really police security; it's the presence of a broad middle class. The stronger the middle class of a people is, the less you have to worry about one group coming in and exploiting the democratic process for its own ends.
If everybody is happy, then something is wrong with the democratic process.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 laid the foundation for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but it also addressed nearly every other aspect of daily life in a would-be free democratic society.
If democracy is to be an articulation of mutual respect, a leader in a democracy leads by showing respect to all.
Our democratic culture does not prioritise protecting an individual's right to live life her way, especially if that is not our way or the way of the community.
