John Dewey, answered from the texts and cited to the page.
The keynote of democracy as a way of life is the necessity for the participation of every mature human being in the formation of the values that regulate the living of men together.1 That sentence carries the whole weight of what I mean by participatory democracy, and it is worth pausing on each of its terms before moving on. Every mature human being — not the educated, not the propertied, not those certified by experts as competent.
The foundation of democracy is faith in the capacities of human nature; faith in human intelligence, and in the power of pooled and cooperative experience.2 The individuals of the submerged mass may not be very wise, but there is one thing they are wiser about than anybody else can be: where the shoe pinches, the troubles they suffer from.3 No limited set of men, however gifted, can substitute for that knowledge.
The participation I have in mind is not the periodic act of casting a ballot. Universal suffrage, recurring elections, responsibility of those in political power to the voters — these are means that human wit has devised up to a special time in history, and they are to be judged by their contribution to the end they serve.4 It is a form of idolatry to erect means into the end which they serve.5
The positive meaning of democratic political forms rests on the idea that all those who are affected by social institutions must have a share in producing and managing them.6 The corollary is uncomfortable. Social arrangements that involve fixed subordination are maintained by coercion, and that coercion need not be physical.7 The very fact of exclusion from participation is a subtle form of suppression: it gives individuals no opportunity to reflect and decide upon what is good for them, and when this is habitual and embodied in social institutions, it seems the normal and natural state of affairs.8
The mass usually become unaware that they have a claim to a development of their own powers — their experience is so restricted that they are not conscious of restriction.9 Regarded as an idea, democracy is not an alternative to other principles of associated life. It is the idea of community life itself.10 From the standpoint of the individual, it consists in having a responsible share according to capacity in forming and directing the activities of the groups to which one belongs, and in participating according to need in the values which the groups sustain.11
From the standpoint of the groups, it demands liberation of the potentialities of members in harmony with the interests and goods which are common.12 The robber band is the limiting case: it can act only through isolating itself, preventing the operation of all interests save those which circumscribe it in its separateness; the good citizen, by contrast, finds his conduct as a member of a political group enriching and enriched by his participation in family life, industry, scientific and artistic associations.13
The prime difficulty, as I argued in The Public and Its Problems, is discovering the means by which a scattered, mobile, and manifold public may so recognize itself as to define and express its interests.14 The problem lies deeper than any adjustment of political machinery; it is in the first instance an intellectual problem — the search for conditions under which the Great Society may become the Great Community.15
When those conditions are brought into being, they will make their own forms; until they have come about, it is somewhat futile to consider what political machinery will suit them.16
The key-note of democracy as a way of life may be expressed, it seems to me, as the necessity for the participation of every mature human being in formation of the values that regulate the living of men together.Liberalism and Social Action + Essays, p. 218
The foundation of democracy is faith in the capacities of human nature; faith in human intelligence, and in the power of pooled and cooperative experience.Liberalism and Social Action + Essays, pp. 218–219
The individuals of the submerged mass may not be very wise. But there is one thing they are wiser about than anybody else can be, and that is where the shoe pinches, the troubles they suffer from.Liberalism and Social Action + Essays, pp. 218–219
Universal suffrage, recurring elections, responsibility of those who are in political power to the voters, and the other factors of democratic government are means that have been found expedient for realizing democracy as the truly human way of living. They are not a final end and a final value. They are to be judged on the basis of their contribution to end.Liberalism and Social Action + Essays, p. 218
It is a form of idolatry to erect means into the end which they serve.Liberalism and Social Action + Essays, pp. 218–219
all those who are affected by social institutions must have a share in producing and managing them.Liberalism and Social Action + Essays, pp. 218–219
Social arrangements which involve fixed subordination are maintained by coercion. The coercion need not be physical.Liberalism and Social Action + Essays, pp. 218–219
The very fact of exclusion from participation is a subtle form of suppression. It gives individuals no opportunity to reflect and decide upon what is good for them. Others who are supposed to be wiser and who in any case have more power decide the question for them.Liberalism and Social Action + Essays, pp. 218–219
The mass usually become unaware that they have a claim to a development of their own powers. Their experience is so restricted that they are not conscious of restriction.Liberalism and Social Action + Essays, pp. 218–219
Regarded as an idea, democracy is not an alternative to other principles of associated life. It is the idea of community life itself.The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925-1953. Volume 2: 1925-1927, Essays, The Public and Its Problems, pp. 327–328
From the standpoint of the individual, it consists in having a responsible share according to capacity in forming and directing the activities of the groups to which one belongs and in participating according to need in the values which the groups sustain.The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925-1953. Volume 2: 1925-1927, Essays, The Public and Its Problems, pp. 327–328
From the standpoint of the groups, it demands liberation of the potentialities of members of a group in harmony with the interests and goods which are common.The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925-1953. Volume 2: 1925-1927, Essays, The Public and Its Problems, pp. 327–328
The robber band cannot interact flexibly with other groups; it can act only through isolating itself... But a good citizen finds his conduct as a member of a political group enriching and enriched by his participation in family life, industry, scientific and artistic associations.The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925-1953. Volume 2: 1925-1927, Essays, The Public and Its Problems, pp. 327–328
The prime difficulty, as we have seen, is that of discovering the means by which a scattered, mobile and manifold public may so recognize itself as to define and express its interests.The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925-1953. Volume 2: 1925-1927, Essays, The Public and Its Problems, pp. 327–328
The problem lies deeper; it is in the first instance an intellectual problem: the search for conditions under which the Great Society may become the Great Community.The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925-1953. Volume 2: 1925-1927, Essays, The Public and Its Problems, pp. 327–328
When these conditions are brought into being they will make their own forms. Until they have come about, it is somewhat futile to consider what political machinery will suit them.The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925-1953. Volume 2: 1925-1927, Essays, The Public and Its Problems, pp. 327–328