No Nonsense Democracy Notes

From Richard Sweet, No Nonsense Guide: Democracy

p. 28 (Protagoras)

Any adult citizen was capable of acquiring the art of politics (the ability to make reasoned judgements on the city's affairs) and should therefore be part of the body deciding these issues.

p. 58

The experience of a managerial autocracy at work robs people of a sense of their own democratic agency. (major deficit in building democracy)

p. 103

Advocates in direct democracy contests are forced to address issues rather than engage in endlessly circular debates about the 'character' (usually manufactured) of a particular politicians.

p. 106

Policy decisions taken in haste are often regretted at leisure.

p. 113

The messy multi-party coalitions that are more typical of proportional representation may not lend themselves to boss-type politicians like Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan but they have consistently shown a higher degree of citizen involvement and interest.

p. 138

The likelihood of equitable and sustainable development without the institutions of a popular democracy is almost non-existent... Popular power is needed to shape a society where the wealthy pay adequate taxes, where environmental and labour standards are respected and where collective goods (such as water, housing, cheap public transportation, safe communities and good air) are guaranteed. This will not happen without those who benefit most by it having an effective voice in making sure it does.

p. 80 (C. Douglas Lummis)

Daily life is the economy, the very control system... captured in the ominous expression "business as usual"... democracy cannot be satisfied with a politics defined as a leisure activity driven out of the center of life (the economy) into occasional bits and pieces of "surplus". The democratic project will not be completed until it has succeeded in democratizing work.

p. 81

A real democracy would be one where the tasks and priorities of economic management were based on the advice of, and beholden to the interests of, the broader society.

(Andre' Gorz)

The markedt itself is not the goal of any of the actors that confront one another there; it is the space that results from their confrontation just as "traffic" is the result of all those who are driving their cards at any moment and have... and average speed imposed on them by all the other drivers, none of whom has actually chosen it.

p. 146

Undemocratic concentrations of power will always form and need dissolving... Democracy will never stand still: if it is not expanding, it is very likely contracting. ...Power [is] something that needs to be dispersed and embedded in everything from workplaces to self-governing communities.