A central question facing America—and indeed almost all countries—as we enter the 21st century is: How can we rebuild the social and, above all, economic institutions needed to restore, sustain, and nurture stable and cooperative communities?

Or, to put it another way, can there be a healthy national-level "Democracy" if the experience of "democracy" in the nation's communities is weak or non-existent?

Minimally, it would seem that if there is no direct understanding of democracy in the experience of the ordinary citizen in the community in which he or she lives, then the capacity of citizens to build a national Democracy would likely be limited. Maximally, it would seem that if there were a vibrant experience of democracy in everyday life in local communities, then this might be expected to contribute to a greater experience and reality of Democracy in the nation as a whole.

If we accept that there is some relationship between what happens locally and what is needed nationally, then what are the conditions necessary to produce a serious democratic experience? Can they be achieved? In this modern high-tech, globalized era, are they beyond us? If so, then what?

When such questions are looked at more closely, they begin to break down into a range of challenging problems: For instance:

(1) Poll data show a decline in faith in national government; is this—or is this not—related in any way to what has been happening locally? Has there been some change? Are the phenomena unrelated?

(2) What of other countries? Are such diverse "Democracies" as the Netherlands, India, the Philippines, South Africa, Canada and Japan, more or less "democratic"—and what do we know about democracy in their communities?

(3) Many studies suggest that local governments in many parts of the United States are trapped between the power of the real estate development community, on the one hand, and the larger forces of economic dislocation, on the other. What really is meant by "democratic decision- making" in such circumstances? And what is the role of the citizen?

(4) What can be said about the range of democratic community experience between low-income communities, middle-income towns and rich suburbs? At another extreme, what can the experience of such theoretically highly democratic communities as the Israeli kibbutz or large- scale Japanese eco-cooperatives teach us?

At another level are a variety of issues related to the economy—including:

(1) What limits are placed upon democracy in general if people have little economic wherewithal--and little personal economic security?

(2) Can communities as a whole be democratic if the economic base upon which they rest is highly unstable?

(3) What, more generally, can be said about the ways in which our overarching economic and social institutions structure ordinary experience?

(4) Does our political-economic system produce citizens or does it produce people whose attitudes and experiences do not include what is needed to make democracy work?

At still another level, what might be done to enhance local community democracy and the institutional structures, particularly economic, but also including schools, governance, the arts and others which can help nurture a more democratic citizenry?

On the following pages these and other questions are explored, along with on-the-ground working models of new types of institutions that are helping to strengthen democracy and build stable, democratic communities in the U.S. and abroad.

Models & Innovations
Policies
Theory, Values & Vision