Democracy's Edge : Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life

by Frances Moore Lappe

• ISBN13: 9780787983352
• ISBN10: 0787983357
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2005-10-01
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

Three out of five Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, feel our country is headed in the wrong direction. America is at the edge, a critical place at which we can either renew and revitalize or give in and lose that most precious American ideal_democracy_and along with it the freedom, fairness, and opportunities it assures. Democracy's Edge is a rousing battle cry that we can_and must_act now. From Jefferson to Eisenhower, presidents from both parties have warned us of the danger of letting a closed, narrow group of business and government officials concentrate power over our lives. Yet today, a small and unrepresentative group of people is making vital decisions for all of us. But this crisis is only a symptom, Lappé argues. It's a symptom of thin democracy, something done to us or for us, not by or with us. Such democracy is always at risk of being stolen by private interests or extremist groups, left and right. But there is a solution. The answer, says Lappé, is Living Democracy, a powerful yet often invisible citizens' revolution surging in communities across America. It's not random, disjointed activism but the emergence of a new historical stage of democracy in which Americans realize that democracy isn't something we have but something we do. Either we live it or lose it, says Lappé.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.

The Path.

PART ONE: Living on Democracy’s Edge.

Our journey to the edge and the forces making possible an invisible revolution of hope.

1. The Frame.

2. The Long Arc.

3. Power Is Not a Four-Letter Word.

PART TWO: Democracy Growing Up.

Outgrowing four beliefs that stymie us and discovering that power, even corporate power, isn’t so stuck after all.

4. Our Coat.

5. The Elephant.

PART THREE: Democracy as a Verb.

It’s not what we have, it’s what we do. Americans seize the rewards of self-direction.

6. Attention.

7. Action.

8. Choice.

9. Voice.

PART FOUR: Democracy in Our Bones.

Americans create a culture of empowered, connected people.

10. Learning.

11. Security.

12. The Invitation.

Two Frames for Democracy.

Toward a Language of Democracy.

Notes.

Entry Points for Living Democracy.

The Author.

Index.