“In considering whether a larger association would be more satisfactory, do not fail to consider its extra costs, including a possible increase in the sense of individual powerlessness.”

—  Robert A. Dahl

After the Revolution? (1970; 1990), Ch. 2 : Varieties of Democratic Authority

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 "In considering whether a larger association would be more satisfactory, do not fail to consider its extra costs, includ…" by Robert A. Dahl?
Robert A. Dahl photo
Robert A. Dahl 30
American political scientist 1915–2014

Related quotes

Philip Pullman photo

“If there is a war to be fought, we don’t consider cost one of the factors in deciding whether or not to fight.”

Philip Pullman book Northern Lights

Source: The Golden Compass

Samuel Butler photo

“Italians, and perhaps Frenchmen, consider first whether they like or want to do a thing and then whether, on the whole, it will do them any harm. Englishmen, and perhaps Germans, consider first whether they ought to like a thing and often never reach the questions whether they do like it and whether it will hurt. There is much to be said for both systems, but I suppose it is best to combine them as far as possible.”

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) novelist

Italians and Englishmen
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part XIII - Unprofessional Sermons

Everett Dean Martin photo

“Another method of escaping moral responsibility is to run with the crowd. The crowd never considers consequences; it is bent upon vindicating its principles at any cost. It is anonymous; in it the individual may not be held to account.”

Everett Dean Martin (1880–1941)

Source: The Meaning of a Liberal Education (1926), p. 195

Alexis De Tocqueville photo

“Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort.”

Alexis De Tocqueville book Democracy in America

Book Three, Chapter XXI.
Democracy in America, Volume II (1840), Book Three

Nassim Nicholas Taleb photo

“Consider that the turkey's experience may have, rather than no value, a negative value. It learned from observation, as we are all advised to do (hey, after all, this is what is believed to be the scientific method). Its confidence increased as the number of friendly feedings grew, and it felt increasingly safe even though the slaughter was more and more imminent. Consider that the feeling of safety reached its maximum when the risk was at the highest!”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1960) Lebanese-American essayist, scholar, statistician, former trader and risk analyst

Source: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (2007), pp. 40–41 (Taleb attributes the parable of the turkey to Bertrand Russell, who originally wrote of a chicken.)

Ronald H. Coase photo

“Transaction costs were used in the one case to show that if they are not included in the analysis, the firm has no purpose, while in the other I showed, as I thought, that if transaction costs were not introduced into the analysis, for the range of problems considered, the law had no purpose.”

Ronald H. Coase The Nature of the Firm

Ronald H. Coase (1988). "The Nature of the Firm: Influence." Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 4 (No. 1, Spring): 33—47. p. 34; as cited in Eggertsson (1990; xiii)
1960s-1980s

Erik Naggum photo

“You have failed to consider the ramifications of the solutions and pose a problem that simply would not exist if you did. This taxes my patience, which is already legendary in its general absence.”

Erik Naggum (1965–2009) Norwegian computer programmer

Re: XML and lisp http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/06d4be5b6f5bc154 (Usenet article).
Usenet articles, Miscellaneous

Julie Taymor photo

“The artist has the possibility to create a much larger landscape with puppetry. The human becomes more human in that sense.”

Julie Taymor (1952) American film and theatre director

As quoted in "New York at Work; Puppeteer Creates Shows for Grown-Ups" by N. R. Kleinfield The New York Times (2 July 1991) http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/02/nyregion/new-york-at-work-puppeteer-creates-shows-for-grown-ups.html
Context: We have a ways to go in understanding the power of puppetry … Our problem is for too long we have thought of puppets being for children. … The appeal of puppetry to me is it's much more freeing for an artist … Puppetry is a completely controllable means to attack your characters in every possible way. The artist has the possibility to create a much larger landscape with puppetry. The human becomes more human in that sense. Another of the great things about puppetry is the ability to transform.

N. Gregory Mankiw photo

“Microeconomics and macroeconomics are closely intertwined. Because changes in the overall economy arise from the decisions of millions of individuals, it is impossible to understand macroeconomic developments without considering the associated microeconomic decisions.”

N. Gregory Mankiw (1958) American economist

Source: Principles of Economics (1998-), Ch. 2. Thinking Like an Economist; p. 27

Paul Mason (journalist) photo

“Globalisation was an unstoppable natural process; free-market economics simply the natural state of things. But when the country that designed globalisation, imposed it and benefited from it most votes against it, you have to consider the possibility that it is going to end, and suddenly. If so, you also have to consider a possibility that – if you are a liberal, humanist democrat – may be even more shocking: that oligarchic nationalism is the default form of failing economies.”

Paul Mason (journalist) (1960) British journalist

The Soviet Union collapsed overnight. Don’t assume western democracy will last forever https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/05/soviet-union-collapsed-overnight-western-democracy-liberal-order-ussr-russia, The Guardian (5 December 2016)

Related topics