[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.