Strong Democracy

Description

1. Herman Daly, Charles Prugh and Robert Costanza:

"In a strong democracy, people –citizens – govern themselves to the greatest extent possible rather than delegate their power and responsibility to representatives acting in their names. Strong democracy does not mean politics as a way of life, as an all-consuming job, game, and as it is for so many professional politicians. But it does mean politics (citizenship) as a way of living: an expected element of one’s life. It is a prominent and natural role, such as that of “parent” or “neighbor”." (via email from Pat Conaty)

2. Arran Gare:

“Strong democracy is a term coined by Benjamin Barber based on his study of Switzerland. It is associated with taking the notion of citizenship very seriously, requiring adult members of communities to take responsibility for the future of their communities and participate in their governance. It requires education, institutions and media to achieve the required wisdom to perform this function properly. It is best achieved through a federal structure which decentralizes power as much as possible, but requires more local communities to take seriously the common good of broader communities. Essentially, it is democratic federalism. This can be extended to the whole of humanity, and the biotic communities of which humans are part, including Gaia. Strong democracy involves the subordination of markets to these communities. The localization of political power and economic processes and decision-making wherever possible would allow people to more easily identify exploitation and oppression and eliminate them. The struggle for this is a struggle against the global corporatocracy and their political allies, and should be waged as a struggle for liberation to prevent global ecological destruction.” (https://www.academia.edu/43252621/Toward_an_Ecological_Civilization_-_An_Interview_with_Arran_Gare?)