Urban Democracy: Editorial
"Trust me" / "tell me" (The Green Proposal)
The Innovative Potential of the Arts and
Science
For Continued Learning!
Dissolve Your State!
Tear Down the "Berlin Wall" of Your Boundaries!
Thank you, Mr Schroeder!
Debate: Who Is the Ordinary Citizen?
The Ordinary Citizen:
Between A Desire to Be Told What To Think
and Do -
And Frustration At Being Made A Fool?
Is the Tolbin Tax Important?
CITIZENS!
Download a pdf.copy
of issue # 3
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.
Local reform, aiming at
an increased say of the many
in everything vital for
their communities,is the prerequisite
for extended, more genuine,
practical democracy in our
societies.
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