"As citizens of this democracy, you are the rulers and the ruled, the law givers and the law abiding, the beginning and the end." To what extent...

The source of this quotation is Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (5 February 1900–14 July 1965). He was an American politician who served as the Governor of Illinois from 1949 to 1953. He ran two unsuccessful campaigns for the presidency of the United States and served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under the Kennedy administration. A Unitarian and progressive politician, Stevenson was widely admired for his intellect, although he lacked the broad appeal necessary to...

The source of this quotation is Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (5 February 1900–14 July 1965). He was an American politician who served as the Governor of Illinois from 1949 to 1953. He ran two unsuccessful campaigns for the presidency of the United States and served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under the Kennedy administration. A Unitarian and progressive politician, Stevenson was widely admired for his intellect, although he lacked the broad appeal necessary to win a national election against the widely popular war hero Eisenhower.

In terms of ideological perspective, this paraphrase of the philosophy behind the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Constitution emphasizes the populist and democratic nature of the United States. It emphasizes the responsibility of each citizen to be an active and contributing member to the polity. This seems a fair and accurate statement of the underlying philosophy of some aspects of the United States government, although it would not describe the ideology of Iran, Saudi Arabia, or even Singapore.

As to whether you should embrace a progressive philosophy, that is more controversial. The U.S. was created as a Republic in part because the Founding Fathers did not trust direct democracy and thought that elected representatives should be members of an educated upper class who would do a better job of governing that the average citizen. In one sense, expertise seems a desirable quality and populism can turn ugly, especially when fueled by racism and xenophobia; on the other hand, as recent political events have shown, our governing elites are far from uniformly wise and benevolent.