Alfred-Maurice de Zayas 2013 Report of the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IntOrder/A-HRC-24-38_en.pdf.
“

Representative democracy betrays the electorate when laws have no roots in the people but in oligarchies. Studies on the concept and modalities of direct democracy are therefore becoming more topical

— Alfred-Maurice de Zayas

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Representative democracy betrays the electorate when laws have no roots in the people but in oligarchies. Studies on the concept and modalities of direct democracy are therefore becoming more topical" in the context of "Alfred-Maurice de Zayas 2013 Report of the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IntOrder/A-HRC-24-38_en.pdf." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Alfred-Maurice de Zayas" (Quotes, 2013) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas

About Alfred-Maurice de Zayas

Alfred Maurice de Zayas (born May 31, 1947, Havana, Cuba) is an American lawyer, writer, historian, an expert in the field of human rights and international law, a peace activist, President of PEN International Centre Suisse romand (2006-09 and 2013-17), United Nations Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order (also known as Special Rapporteur 2012-2018), appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Professor of International Law.