Recreating Democracy

By Lloyd P Wells

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0967229200
• ISBN13: 9780967229201
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Center for Consensual Democracy
• Length: 343 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.4" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

True Democracy

This is the workbook for We the People, a manifesto for problem solving as (r)evolutionary as any 18th Century founding document. It is to be used by communities, groups, or institutions in crisis or when they know in their hearts and minds that they need to rehabilitate their policies and procedures to make them genuinely of, by and for. A DIY of the highest social, political and moral order, it contains incendiary statements ("Democracy isn't supposed to work. We are supposed to work it."), inflammatory suggestions (consensual taxation) and tools for self-empowerment (forum media) such as make flag waving child's play. Senator Bill Bradley says that a healthy society requires the interwoven functioning of three sectors: government, market and civic. Currently, government and the market/corporate sectors are in cahoots, giving the planet, the Third World and Main Street the cold shoulder, busier building others' nations than rebuilding our own. Especially in the wake of 9/11, this leaves the civic sector up for grabs. It is the closest to home, where most of us can achieve our fullest potential, and retaking it is the purview of "Recreating Democracy."In simple, accessible prose, it defines and delineates what progenitor Wells calls "Consensual Democracy," which is nothing less than voluntary, direct, inclusive, open-session, open-minded, non-partisan local self-governance. Because democracy is inherently neither Liberal nor Conservative, the book is neither. Or both. But both Consensual Democracy and this book are radically pragmatic. Herein are the principles (twelve of them), and the realistic procedures, structures, formats and sample documents for organizing from the bottom up. The book can be taken entire as a kind of gospel of community renewal or sections can be broken away from the text and adapted. (Portions would make great teaching materials for civics or social studies classes.) The support materials are a sort of "Everything You Needed to Know About Democracy But Nobody Told You." For readers to see how the effort to democratize plays out in real time and with real people, the authors offer a series of dramatic (roll-playable) scenes in which the citizens of Everytown (based on the fifty-year Chestnut Hill PA experience) determine where they want to go, learn to draw out and consider each other's visions and abilities, and decide how to get there in a fiscally responsible way: by creating a consensually democratic, hands-on Community Association. A complement to sovereign government, such an Association is capable of tackling economic, social, racial, land use, environmental, business, educational and leadership problems that sovereign government fails to, often cannot, address. It proves a contentious, dynamic, unpredictable, long-term, and exhilarating undertaking. Not easy, never virtual, it fosters self-awareness, widespread participation, and enlightened self-interest. As Everytowners align their separate visions into a shared

Tools for Democratic Renewal

It has been suggested...that Well's and Lemmel'sRecreating Democracy be read as a companion volume to Robert Putnam'sBowling Alone. .... What RecreatingDemocracy provides is practical guidelines for citizens to createcontexts for political conversation and action. "Civicengagement" as Putnam employs the concept, refers to informalnetworks as rich civic resources, but these networks do notnecessarily inspire public debate and wider social questioning. Wellsand Lemmel offer "new tools and methods" that look beyondindividual concerns to their political and structural dimensions andprovide citizens with a blueprint for creating a means of engaging inpublic discussion. If one is interested in creating civic engagementthat produces public-spirited conversation and action, providingcitizens with a public context to voice their political concerns, thenRecreating Democracy should be their handbook.What is bothrefreshing and unconventional in this book is not only the methods forcivic renewal but also the way in which they are presented. With ahighly pragmatic commitment to provide realistic and useful tools, theauthors take the reader through a detailed process of civicconversation and action with chapters written in the form ofhypothetical yet entirely believable letters, memos, and"dramatic scenes." These unconventional chapters areaccompanied by more traditional chapters on theory and practice.Theconceptual framework for this book, what the authors call"consensual democracy," emerged out of more than ahalf-century of experience in community building in a communityoutside of Philadelphia. Consensual democracy is defined as democracyby consent (not consensus) deriving authority from the freely givenconsent of individual citizens. This is contrasted with"sovereign government," deriving power from public laws andpolice powers.Among the most useful and exciting tools ofconsensual democracy are "the community catalyst" and"consensual taxation." A community catalyst is a publicworkshop designed to create a vision of a community's future and aplan for achieving that vision through voluntary action. Consensualtaxes, along with a consensual tax bill, allows citizens to knowdetailed financial information about budgeted community programs andprovides them with the opportunity to support or withhold support fromprograms and expenses for which they are assessed.RecreatingDemocracy should be consulted by anyone interested in the civic arts,as a primer not only for community renewal but for renewing the skillsof democratic citizenship. As John Dewey wrote in The Public and ItsProblems (1927) "faculties of effectual observation, reflection,and desire are habits acquired under the influence of the culture andinstitutions of society, not readymade inherent powers." Fewerand fewer institutions in our culture inspire these faculties andhabits. Wells and Lemmel have performed a valuable public service byproviding tools for acquiring these habits of democracy as a m

A Roadmap For Civic Renewal

Wells and Lemmel have created a rare book, one that actually offers a clear path towards an elusive goal. The question of how to create a better community is essential for any society. I'm not claiming that this book has the ultimate answer, but it does provide some very interesting ideas. The cool part is that it goes further then just ideas, it provides very concrete steps that should be taken to attain a better community. It comes complete with worksheets for town meetings, ideas on how to raise awareness for community happenings, agendas for meetings, even breakdowns on funding a community association.Best of all the format of this book is straight-forward and easy to understand. I'm a 20 something computer profesional with very little background in civics, but this book made a difficult concept very easy to follow. It's actually laid out like a play, with simple characters representative of different personalities you probably have in your town. Add to that an impressive appendix of all the forms referred to in the play, and you have a book that really does make a complicated concept easy to digest.All in all I'd highly recommend this book to anyone interested in their community and civics in general. It will introduce the complexities of building a community and offer a clear path on how to achieve that goal.

Notjust a theory but demonstrating how to put it to use

Recreating Democracy is a book with some answers to a question that is increasingly being asked by citizens across our nation as we drift towards the first presidential election of the new millennium -- can democracy as we now practice it survive? And if we have doubts, as many of us do, what stratagies can we invent to repair its faults and make it work for the benefit of "we, the people"? Wells and Lemmel not only suggest some new and imaginative strategies for saving democracy but, what may be of equal importance, provide a series of logical steps for engaging citizens in their consideration that could be of use for other new ideas as well.