Chapter 1

A Global View of Democracy

In the first chapter we will look at some basic assumptions:

(1) environmental, demographic, and political crises will threaten human survival in the first half of the 21st century

(2) only governments that authentically represent the interests of the whole community can muster sufficient political will and legitimacy to respond

(3) human survival in the 21st century depends on our ability to create a global democracy before it's too late

By the conclusion of the first chapter, readers should be familiar with the following ideas:

• modern democracy was formed in a simpler world and now requires revision
  

• world system crises are developing rapidly
  

• the principle of "overshoot and collapse" is at the center of most human crises
  

• control of political decision-making by special interests makes overshoot and collapse more probable
  

• genuinely democratic systems can cope with complex problems more effectively than authoritarian systems
  

Chapter 2

History and the Quest for Meaning

The second chapter discusses the nature of "history," further develops the previously outlined "human story," and searches for the "ultimate sources of meaning." This chapter affirms democracy as a universal cultural and decision-making system.

If the rejection of democracy as a universal value is widely accepted, then we are all at sea in separate ships--steering with different maps and orienting ourselves by different stars. Under conditions of poor visibility, i.e., in "overshoot," we will inevitably collide.

By the conclusion of the second chapter, readers should be familiar with the following ideas:

• democracy helps to define human nature

• democracy's unique responsibility in history is to lift human life to higher levels of adaptive intelligence

• because the human species has a leading role in the evolution of life on Earth, democracy has a special meaning in relation to the evolution of all terrestrial systems

• history and meaning are interrelated concepts

• the ultimate source of meaning is the ideal to which we aspire

• the story of human life, stretching toward and incorporating that ideal, is the merging of history and meaning

Chapter 3

A Theory of Democracy

In the third chapter we look at a theory of democracy based on concepts taken from information science, general systems theory, and a constructivist philosophy of "deep evolution." Democracy is seen as evolving through identifiable stages, and predictions are made regarding its future stages on each of two separate scales of history.

We will see democracy as more than a political process. It is a system of information processing at many levels. To function well at the political level, it has to be reinforced by democratic patterns at other human system levels.

At the close of the third chapter, readers should be thinking about the following assertions:

• democracy is a living informational, or decision-making, system

• decision-making systems can be analyzed into system elements, communication channels, information flow, decision nodes, and values

• democracies, like all other living systems, evolve through identifiable stages

• authentic democracy is more adaptive than authoritarian or fundamentalist systems

• the values served by democracies must be those that enhance the evolution of life at every level--not those that primarily profit special interests

• teledemocracy will provide a more efficient and more democratic decision-making process in the 21st century

Chapter 4

Individuals, Families, Groups

The fourth chapter examines democracy at the level of the individual, the family, and the group. A new model of the individual, homo syntropicus, is suggested as a replacement for both homo economicus and the socialist "new man."

I propose a model for understanding individual consciousness that is comparable to, and reinforces, the model of democratic processes.

Techniques for extending democratic consciousness and communicative skills are also outlined.

By the end of the fourth chapter, readers should be conversant with the following ideas:

• the elementary units of democracy are human individuals and closely related small systems

• a subset of cognitions, emotions, and communicative behaviors is conducive to democratic decision-making

• the structure of consciousness parallels the structure of democracy

• a satisfactory solution to the Iterated Prisoners¹ Dilemma is fundamental to democracy

• democratic family and small group processes are critical to the development of healthy, democratically-minded personalities

Chapter 5

Worksites, Corporations, Institutions

The proposed revolution in democratic processes begins with personal cognition and moves through every level of human organization. Chapter five carries it into the workplace, corporations, party organizations, and perhaps most surprisingly, into the government bureaucracy.

The concept of ³organizational democracy² is defined, and the roles of expert knowledge, workers, and management are redefined.

The most important ideas in the fifth chapter are the following:

• democracy in the workplace is necessary for an optimally healthy society

• corporations are granted charters by democratic societies and should be required to operate as ³organizational democracies²

• all institutions, including political parties and government administrative branches, could improve their effectiveness by replacing bureaucracy with organizational democracy

• global standards for taxation, interest rates, minimum wages, worker safety, and environmental protection will stop the social disruption caused by the restless search of private corporations for lower cost production sites

• worktime and leisure time can then be better rationalized nationally and globally

Chapter 6

Local, National, and Regional Government

In chapter six we apply our ideas for democratic reform to "democratic" government itself at three levels: local, national, and regional.

An organizational form for achieving Democracy¹s New Agenda (DNA) is proposed in this chapter.

The DNA organization is not to be a political party that serves as a springboard for advance in the present hierarchy. Its aims are to promote seven transformative values:

1. fair elections for one term only,

2. a larger bandwidth for nonprofit media,

3. lobby reform,

4. better education for democracy,

5. zero population growth,

6. eco-planning, and

7. democratization of corporations.

The five priority reform actions are described as:

• electoral reform

• lobby reform

• media reform

• the creation of powerful local, national, and supranational organizations to help realize the seven transformative values

• democratization of corporate power

"Integrative interest representation"--a new method of power sharing that incorporates minority interests--is defined and discussed

A proposal for regional divisions of the projected, democratic world system is also briefly described and endorsed

Chapter 7

The Syntropic Community: A Crucible for Change?

One nontraditional form that could be useful in reforming the democratic system is "the syntropic community."

Chapter seven describes this new approach and adds suggestions for creating a democratic world system--from the ground up. If our elected government representatives are slow in seeing the light, we may have to start the revolution without them.

Utilizing the syntropic community as a universal model, each individual--anywhere in the world--could begin at any time to build a new world democracy. Suggestions are made for adapting the model to local circumstances.

This chapter includes proposals for a "syntropic economy," for the creation of small groups, and for an emphasis on the culture of democratic life. New organizational strategies include:

• the reforms proposed in chapter six could be implemented more quickly in small communities than in large societies

• three carefully balanced economic sectors--private, cooperative, and public-- within each community

• the decentralized and relatively autonomous democratic communities would coordinate their decisions through several network levels

• each community and each network government would be based on the proposed universal constitution

• integrated networks of newly organized democratic communities would lead the rest of society toward more effective democratic forms

Chapter 8

United Nations and World Democracy

The last chapter concentrates on a model of guaranteed security for all peoples, the problem of nuclear weapons, and the transition to a democratic world system based on the model constitution.

We will follow the logic of democracy to its natural conclusion. Proposals are made for:

• a method of transition from the present world system to a global democracy

• the creation of a multicultural world democracy based on the model constitution

• a global security arrangement that would be under democratically elected world leadership

• maintaining a minimal deterrent force of nuclear weapons