“Ideal legislators do not vote their interests.”

— John Rawls , book A Theory of Justice

Source: A Theory of Justice (1971; 1975; 1999), Chapter V, Section 43, p. 284

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Ideal legislators do not vote their interests." by John Rawls?

John Rawls 63

American political philosopher 1921–2002

Related quotes

“We have legislated to leave the EU, with or without a deal. That is what people voted for.”

Iain Duncan Smith (1954) British politician

2019
Source: Brexit: 20 Tory rebels inflict no-deal defeat on government https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46803112 BBC News (8 January 2019)

“Legislators represent people, not trees or acres. Legislators are elected by voters, not farms or cities or economic interests.”

Earl Warren (1891–1974) United States federal judge

On the subject of state Senate apportionment, in Reynolds v. Sims (1964)
1960s

“We can say that voting […] is at the heart of both the method and the ideal of democracy.”

William H. Riker (1920–1993) American political scientist

Liberalism Against Populism (1982)

“A law is simply a reflection of the momentary perception of self-interest by a majority of a legislative body.”

James Bovard (1956) American journalist

From Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (St. Martin's Press, 1994) http://www.jimbovard.com/Epigrams%20page%20Lost%20Rights.htm

“All the elements of the democratic method are means to render voting practically effective and politically significant, and all the elements of the democratic ideals are moral extensions and elaborations of the features of the method that make voting work.”

William H. Riker (1920–1993) American political scientist

Liberalism Against Populism (1982)

“No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down as to where our legislation shall stop in interfering between man and man, between interest and interest.”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States

1900s, The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (1900), National Duties
Variant: No hard and fast rule can be laid down as to where our legislation shall stop in interfering between man and man, between interest and interest.
Context: No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down as to where our legislation shall stop in interfering between man and man, between interest and interest. All that can be said is that it is highly undesirable, on the one hand, to weaken individual initiative, and, on the other hand, that in a constantly increasing number of cases we shall find it necessary in the future to shackle cunning as in the past we have shackled force. It is not only highly desirable but necessary that there should be legislation which shall carefully shield the interests of wage-workers, and which shall discriminate in favor of the honest and humane employer by removing the disadvantage under which he stands when compared with unscrupulous competitors who have no conscience and will do right only under fear of punishment. Nor can legislation stop only with what are termed labor questions. The vast individual and corporate fortunes, the vast combinations of capital, which have marked the development of our industrial system create new conditions, and necessitate a change from the old attitude of the state and the nation toward property.