First Democracy - Discussion for June 18

“Democracy is a beautiful idea – government by and for the people. Democracy promises us the freedom to exercise out highest capacities while it protects us from our worst tendencies. In democracy as it ought to be, all adults are free to chime in, to join the conversation on how they should arrange their life together. And no one is left free to enjoy the unchecked power that leads to arrogance and abuse.

Like many beautiful ideas, however, democracy travels through our minds shadowed by its doubles – bad ideas that are close enough to easily mistaken for the real thing. Democracy has many doubles, but the most seductive is majority rule, and this is not democracy. It is merely government by and for the majority.”

So begins the book, First Democracy: the Challenge of an Ancient Idea written by Paul Woodruff (Oxford University Press, 2005 ) and summarized by Paul Schumann, founder of the Central Texas World Future Society on the Extreme Democracy Blog.

Woodruff concludes the book with an afterword entitled Are Americans Ready for Democracy? wherein he takes each of the principles and asks questions about the present state of democracy in America. He ends the book with, “Are we ready to shake off the idea that we are already a perfect exemplar of democracy? Are we ready to put the goals of democracy foremost in our political minds, as many Athenians did? Are we ready to admit our mistakes and learn from them, as they did? Most important, are we ready to keep the great dream alive, the dream of a government of the people, by the people and for the people?”

These questions provide the framework for our Extreme Democracy discussions launching on June 18 at 7:00 p.m. Central Time in the Texas Forums OPAL Room.

For more information about participating in this exciting series, check out our Extreme Democracy Discussion Guide.

Read Paul Schumann’s full summary of First Democracy: the Challenge of an Ancient Idea.