    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 47 (Monday, November 29, 1999)]
    [Pages 2433-2434]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at Session Two of the Conference on Progressive Governance for
    the 21st Century in Florence

    November 21, 1999

        Well, first let me--excuse me. I would like to compliment Professor
    Meny on his paper, which was presented to this conference, and on his
    remarks.
        I think I should begin by noting that he quoted that wonderful
    section from Machiavelli, where he says something to the effect that
    there is nothing so difficult in all of human affairs than to change the
    established order of things. The next part of the quote is also very
    important, where Machiavelli goes on to say that is so because the
    people who will gain from the change are uncertain of their benefit, but
    the people who will lose are absolutely sure of the consequences and
    will go to any lengths to avoid them. So that calls for a little
    humility here in our enterprise.
        But let me say the points that Yves Meny made were the following:
    Democracy is an unfinished business, still to be perfected--I agree with
    that; democracies will be different, depending on the circumstances they
    face and their cultural and historical difference--I agree with that; we
    need transnational civil society institutions to bring mutuality and
    interdependence and responsibility to the fore--I certainly agree with

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    that; and we will have to have through all these differences a
    reaffirmation of fundamental rights--and I agree with that.
        Let me say what I think we know about all this. First of all, I
    think it is not an accident that we have the flourishing of a new
    economy that is based on knowledge and individual entrepreneurialism and
    creativity at the very time when, for the first time in history, more
    than half the world's people live under governments of their own
    choosing. I think there is a connection between the primacy of the
    citizen and the equality of individuals, and the way this economy works
    so well in successful democracies.
        Secondly, I think the fact that we now have democracies makes it
    even more important that we be committed to universal education and not
    just technical education, but the kind of education that makes for good
    citizenship--the liberal arts, education in logic and reasoning and
    judgment, understanding different cultures, and making reasoned
    arguments. If you're going to have democracies make good decisions in
    difficult times--not just when everything is going well--the importance
    of universal education, and not narrowly defined education, is greater
    than at any time in all of human history.
        Thirdly, I very much agree with the point which was made about the
    need for transnational institutions. I say all the time in the United
    States that we are very fortunate that at this moment in history we have
    a lot of prosperity, and we have a lot of influence. But we should make
    no mistake, nothing lasts forever. We should be humble; we should be
    responsible; and we should recognize that we live in an increasingly
    interdependent world, where it is important that we both assume and
    receive obligations and cooperation.
        The last point I would like to make is that when we talk about the
    perfection of democracy and when we talk about the different cultures,
    one of the things that I think we have to reaffirm is that, in the world
    in which we live, democracy is far more than majority rule; it is also
    majority rule within given restraints of power which recognize minority
    rights and individual rights, whether they are religious rights, whether
    they are the rights of women as well as men or given ethnic groups or
    homosexuals or any other discrete group in society.
        It seems to me that if you look at all the troubles in the world
    we're having over racial and ethnic and religious and travel turmoil,
    the most effective democracies that will do best with the modern economy
    are those that not only have majority rule but very clear, unambiguous,
    and passionate commitments to the protection of the rights and the
    interests of minorities.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:45 p.m. in the Room of Five Hundred at
    the Palazzo Vecchio. In his remarks, he referred to Yves Meny, director,
    Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University
    Institute in Florence. A tape was not available for verification of the
    content of these remarks.