A Representative Democracy Movement

-Riane Eisler, author of the international bestseller 'The Chalice and The Blade'

Why a Representative Democracy Movement? First of all, aren't we as citizens, at least in the USA, already in a democratic nation?
And aren't we supposed to be represented by our elected government?

Yes, and yes. But unfortunately, it's not working very well these days. And not only is it revealing its obvious flaws, but the "representative" component needs to be urgently admitted into Intensive Care!

It's likely true that an accurate reading of a society's active democracy is hard to gage, because it's a moving target. But for democracy to be real, the citizenry as a whole must be represented by its government, its social services, and its election system. When that breaks down, when big-moneyed corporations call the shots, when special interests control public policy, and when being a millionaire is a basic candidacy requirement to run for any significant public office, then the democracy devolves and becomes a sham.

Many of us have worked for improving, or restoring, democracy via a variety of vehicles: social-justice activism; electoral politics; non-profit organizations; charities. All of these efforts have helped in their own way, but unfortunately not enough to restore real social representation across the spectrum of economic class, race, ethnicity, and nepotism.

The histories of the world, as well as US history, have demonstrated that shifts of major social change have successfully occurred over time. But aside from violent revolutions, these social shifts have rarely occurred as a result of benevolent acts or policies by government officials, including heads of state. Nor have they been a result of specific platforms chosen by political parties, or their candidates running for office. Also, rarely have small numbers of idealistic, outspoken political activists, citizen petitions, or issue-focused public-awareness campaigns drastically transformed the fabric of a society.

The reality is that major social change comes about when transformation is SO badly desired by the people as a whole, that a mass social movement grows within a society, attracts people of all persuasions, and becomes an un-mutable voice and WILL of the public. When that point is reached, there's no turning back, and major change is the result!

We've seen it played-out in US history with the public's dissatisfaction with the Viet Nam war, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's, and earlier movements for womens' suffrage and abolitionism. Numerous other historical examples exist worldwide.

So the first step, perhaps, is to believe that it is do-able. And this present moment is our unique window in time to build real community as a foundation for growing a grass-roots democracy movement. Real community creates social interdependency, emanates from our core self-discovered values, and is diverse in its form of expression. The time of organizing from a position of reactive-anger and polarized "Us vs Them" orientation is coming to a close. When we react or merely protest to the actions or policies of imperialism and corporate domination, it is typically a sign of defeat, not of empowerment; it indicates that the public majority has been largely asleep-at-the-wheel, probably for decades, and was unsuccessful in preventing our current dilemma. Expressing displeasure to actions and policies is fine, but still dis-empowering. An empowered movement can do more, and create more.

A good example here is that about one year before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, few people predicted such an outcome. But fall it did, as a result of a building momentum that gathered force. An accumulation of hard work by underground activists, in combination with drastically changing economic conditions, propelled the cause for freedom past the point of no return, and surprisingly, the wall came down. Who says that a freedom-and-justice oriented democracy movement cannot have similar success here?

It's also important to recognize, in the course of movement-building, that people working for social change often operate in a state of high stress, driven by the sheer magnitude of the problems we face, the suffering in our communities, and declining social and environmental indicators. Additionally, they may be angry at those with power whose greed and unconsciousness continue to create injustice, wars, and environmental destruction.

Yet increasingly, activists are coming to appreciate that fear and anger, while they are often an important part of awakening political consciousness, are not ultimately the best fuel for making change. Many of us have responded to the words of Gandhi: "We must be the change we wish to see in the world." To really become part of the solution rather than part of the problem, it becomes necessary, even in the midst of chaos and struggle, to go beyond railing against what we don't like. We must learn to keep our hearts open, and to dream the positive future we want to create.

From this perspective, and a foundation of more self-awareness, stems what we're naming inspired engagement. Such engagement in world affairs has been rare to find, but is now increasing in example. Stemming from a base of heart-felt caring, social concern, or metaphysical experiences, along with those involved with committed spiritual practice or religious faith, inspired citizens are recognizing that disconnecting from the problems of today's world as a form of "spiritual safe haven" can begin to feel hypocritical. Finally, the point is reached where one cannot stay home and block away the world's suffering any longer. What we're noticing with the emerging activities associated with inspired engagement, whether it be via personal lifestyle choices, or by connecting with social or faith-based activist groups, is that the actions are more connected with feelings of global compassion than with reactionary judgment or blame.

The current anti-war movement in the U.S. is a good example. Thus far, its presence is making very little difference in U.S. foreign policy because the mission of the movement is so outwardly focused, with little concern for the examples set by its own participants. If we desire change in how we treat our global neighbors, we need first to clean our own house. Personal and family lifestyle habits need to reflect those outward changes we wish to see. And our civic engagement requires much more attention than just showing up to vote in November. An integrity-based movement needs to be a living example, and public expressions of reactive anger tend to create even more anger. If the anti-war movement evolves into more of a "peace" movement, displaying compassion, solidarity, and deep care for its members, perhaps its numbers would rapidly expand.

Social movements don't naturally appear the way the seasons change, nor do they become slogan-ized by way of Madison Avenue marketing campaigns. They arise because of great and desperate needs. According to John Maguire, a "Freedom Rider" for civil rights from the 1960's, "Suffering and oppression are not enough to create a movement. A movement begins when the oppressed begin seeing themselves not just as victims, but as new men and women, pioneers in creating new, more human relations, thus advancing the evolution of the human race." 
Additionally, the representative democracy movement will be built as the supporting base broadens and diversifies. Leaders emerge from the movement, they do not found it. The model has a collective leadership so that no one individual has the power to determine the alliance's path.

For a new movement to matter, there must be active collaborative dialog among African American activists, Hispanic activists, Muslim American activists, GLBT, labor, Department of Peace activists, students, Asian Americans, veterans, progressive Christians, Palestine/Israel activists, international grassroots organizations, Native Americans, organic farmers, environmentalists, anti-nukers, young people, feminists, and so on. What we need is a multi-racial, multi-class social movement with strong participation and leadership from racial minorities, labor, women's organizations and other groups. Failing the development of such a peoples movement, or a major collapse of U.S. power abroad, the trend in the U.S. is for a stronger national state, stronger global state, and weaker municipal and state governments. The trend is also for more corporatization of public institutions, especially public education. And the trend is for rigged elections on a whole new level, along with a concurrent growth in popular disenchantment with elections and voting.

Regardless of political party or preferred system of government, we all have values that, when applied to the world, can result in enough food and shelter for families, clean air and water, sustainable food-production practices, and general fairness to others. This is where we recognize our shared values and collaboratively take steps to make the vision real.

Movement-building begins with grassroots communication. And the place to begin is at the neighborhood level, then extending outward. As community members regularly gather to listen and talk at local Peoples Cafegatherings, the first steps of movement-building are taken. Particpants at the cafe discussions have the opportunity to network their interests, connections, and activities. It's a process we like to refer to as "coalition brokering" (H. Stith Bennet, 2004).

From there, communication leads to understanding and trust, trust leads to solidarity, and solidarity leads to collective action.

The Left Hand of God

by Rabbi Michael Lerner

Healing the Soul of America

by Marianne Williamson

The Impossible Will Take a Little While

by Paul Rogat Loeb

Democracy's Edge

by Frances Moore Lappe'

The Politics of Hope

by Donna Zajonc

The Power of Partnership

by Riane Eisler