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The Lopsided 'Advances' of 'Globalization'
The Unbalanced Dynamics of "Modernization"
Thank You, Herr Schroeder...
The Debate About Europe Is Taken Up
By
il signore Prodi
A Longing for 'Elites':
Is This the Fashion of the Day?
Is Mr. Clement An Advocate of
Increased Urban and Regional Democracy?
We Propose To Create A Forum
of International
Democratic Debate
The Future of Civic Commitment
Centralism? Regionalism? Which Way
to Real Democracy?
The 'res publica' is
Not Something We Should Entrust
A Caste of 'Professional Politicians'
With!
Local Self-Determination!
And Cooperation!
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Urban Democracy is intended
as a forum of debate
open for all those those
longing for a society of awake, committed, citizens
caring for the public cause,
la chose publique, die oeffentliche sache,
res publica. The Editors
of Urban Democracy propose to put
the goal of strengthening
political participation of
ordinary citizens on the
top of their agenda
.
Is the Greek polis a workable
example in today's
globally interdependent
world?
Does the concept of
free association, of rational democratic
debate, of foresight, coordination,
compensatory justice
provide practical clues?
We know that municipal (and
regional) democracy cannot
but fail if society at large
is not fully democratized,
in the sense of meaningful
influence and a real voice
for the majority that
is at present allowed only to vote
every four or five years
while the important
decisions are taken
by professional
politicians susceptible to the pressures of the few,
most often those with a
lot of money.
But we also know that society
at large cannot be fully
democratic if local (and
regional) affairs are left
unattended by local people
failing to empower
themselves to decide the
very things that affect them
in an essential way at their
very doorsteps.
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