Active Democracy
Democracy is only as strong as we make it, and citizens are responsible for continually renewing our system. When ordinary citizens engage in strengthening democracy, it helps to ensure that Abraham Lincoln’s notion of “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” is alive and well. Increased participation in democracy is a critical solution to many of the challenges we face in our government and there are many innovative ways to help increase civic participation and ensure that citizens’ voices are heard.
Engaging Citizens in Democracy
AmericaSpeaks is a U.S.-based non-profit that provides citizens a greater voice in local, regional, and national public decisions through innovative deliberative tools. Learn more.
Envisioning a Living Democracy
Frances Moore Lappé “believes that ideas have enormous power and that humans are capable of changing failing ideas in order to turn our planet toward life.” Her Small Planet Institute seeks to identify the assumptions and forces—economic, political, and psychological—now taking our planet in a direction that as individuals none of us would choose. Learn more.
Read the America Speaks essay: "Citizens Strengthening Democracy"
Read the Small Planet Institute essay: "Toward a Living Democracy"
Endnotes & References