Latest Lawrence Lessig Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• The value of "one person, one vote," the value of equality, is a value that was given to us more than 50 years ago as a central part of our constitutional tradition. So, under that principle, we ought to be applying the same standard today that I would have said we should have applied a year ago.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Should Have, Years, Principles

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• The popular choice is not elected as president.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Choices, President

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• The Electoral College is a project that calls on their judgment. If we don't like it, we can talk about how to eliminate it. I'm not quite convinced we should eliminate it completely. I think it's important to have a final check be somebody other than the Supreme Court. But given that it's there, we should take it seriously. And taking it seriously says they should exercise their judgment according to the moral values, the principles that are part of our constitutional tradition today. And those principles say equality.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Exercise, College, Thinking

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• Under the principle of equality, we should get as close to respecting equal votes of every citizen as we can, given our constitutional structure. And I think if we did that, then the will of the people would not be overturned.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Thinking, People, Principles

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• We ought to be respecting the principle of equality.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Principles, Ought

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• Winner take all does not exist in the Constitution. It's a restriction imposed on the electors by the states.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Doe, Constitution, Winner

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• I think the archaic idea is actually winner take all, because the principle of "one person, one vote" is a principle that was introduced as a fundamental principle in American law in 1962, long after states had moved to "one person, one vote."

  Lawrence Lessig

  Thinking, Law, Ideas

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• Everybody's vote should count equally in the United States.

  Lawrence Lessig

  United States, Vote, Should

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• The principle, that should be a fundamental principle in our democracy, the principle of "one person, one vote," says that the vote of every American should count equally. And if it does, Hillary Clinton should be the president of the United States.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Democracy, President, Principles

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• The popular choice, by more than 2 million votes, is a completely qualified candidate for president.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Choices, President, Vote

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• There's no reason for the electors to overrule the popular choice.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Choices, Reason, No Reason

  Source: www.truth-out.org

• I'm pushing for citizen equality not because of some moral idea, but because this is the essential way to crack the corruption that now makes it so Washington can't work.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Ideas, Essentials, Cracks

  ""Your Representative Doesn't Give a Shit About You": Larry Lessig's Plan to Fix Democracy". Interview with Hamilton Nolan, gawker.com. October 13, 2015.

• If zero percent of the elites support something, very low chance it's going to pass, if 100% support something, very high chance it's going to pass. Same thing for organized interest groups. But for the average voter, it's a flat line. Which says it doesn't matter whether zero percent of the public believes something or 100% of the average voters believe something - it doesn't affect the probability that that thing will be enacted.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Zero, Believe, Average

  "'Your Representative Doesn't Give a Shit About You': Larry Lessig's Plan to Fix Democracy". Interview with Hamilton Nolan, gawker.com. October 13, 2015.

• A world where Congressmen spend 30 to 70 percent of their time raising money from a tiny, tiny fraction of the 1% is a world where that tiny, tiny fraction has enormous power. And it's that inequality in political power that enables this corrupted system to happen.

  Lawrence Lessig

  Political, World, Tiny

  "'Your Representative Doesn't Give a Shit About You': Larry Lessig's Plan to Fix Democracy". Interview with Hamilton Nolan, gawker.com. October 13, 2015.