From the Collective Wisdom Initiative website

Deepening Democracy:
Awakening the Spirit of
Our Shared Life Together

Rosa Zubizarreta

July 2003

The idea of democracy in the western world has historically conveyed a broad sense of spirit and commitment and purpose, a heart-felt response to a sense that "something more" is possible. The word itself has stirred the imagination, communicating a sense of new developments in terms of our social organization. Whitman's quote about democracy still feels very relevant today, pointing us evocatively toward the future, to fuller expressions of our humanity that have yet to unfold.

At the same time, the future of democracy can easily appear quite bleak. Much has been written recently about "the demise of democracy." This is not limited to the enormous amounts of money and sophisticated marketing techniques involved in "selling the candidates."  It also includes the metastasis of "corporate  personhood" that dwarfs our ability to make a difference in the face of enormous concentrations of wealth and powerful special interests.

While there are many worthwhile efforts to address the problems we are facing, something seems to be missing in much of the conversation about democracy. There is often a disquieting sense that the problem goes much deeper than we may realize. Too many of us are not finding ourselves moved by well-intentioned efforts to "reform" our political landscape, much less by "politics as usual." There seems to be a much deeper hunger for meaning, a sense that our political and economic system needs to be renewed at a much more fundamental level than many suggested reforms might address. 

We know that "without a Vision, the People will perish." Yet in modern times our political system has become so disheartening to so many, that the very idea of democracy seems to have lost its power to inspire us. Our participation in the creative process of envisioning and actualizing our collective future has been reduced to selecting a candidate from a limited number of options, and our imaginations seem to have withered accordingly.

At the same time, we know that every challenge offers the gift of opportunity. If we wish to renew the radical and revolutionary sense of relevance that democracy once inspired in the hearts and minds of so many people, we may need to ask ourselves fundamental questions about what it means to be human. As we search for a way through our current political crisis, we may find ourselves questioning our understanding of the Universe and our role within it. Looking deeply at the challenges of the present moment may turn out to offer some insights into the next steps of our evolutionary unfolding.

As we set out to explore what it might mean to awaken the spirit of democracy, it can be helpful to begin by honoring the past. In doing so, we may discover seeds we want to bring forward, as well as greater insight into what we may want to change.

Bringing Forward the Seeds of the Past

One essential thread in the concept of democracy has been a radical faith in the ability of the "common person" to help shape the social world in which we live. Of course, once upon a time the "common person" meant a "common propertied white male person." Yet even so it was still a radical concept. In time, this faith in everyday, ordinary people has been greatly expanded to become much more inclusive, at least in theory if not in practice.

Another key strand embedded in the idea of democracy has been the revolutionary premise that each person has their own ability to connect directly with the Divine. Again, the image of the "Divine" prevalent earlier may not be the image many of us share today.  Nonetheless, the notion of an unmediated personal connection to Spirit remains a revolutionary premise, one that is both problematic and full of promise.

These two strands are not unconnected. The "separation of Church and State" in the United States, designed to establish religious freedom for all, has helped to shape the two very distinct worlds of religion and of politics. Yet many of those who originally established that separation felt a deep personal connection between the world and Spirit.

The intention of the principle of separation of powers was not to disconnect the movement of Spirit from personal and community life. Instead, it was intended to protect and strengthen each person's ability to connect with Spirit, in the light of his or her own conscience. The necessary demarcation between Church and State has brought many benefits. Yet there seems to be a much wider thirst for meaning, for values, for a sense of the sacred in our shared life together, than is portrayed in mainstream consumer culture. The growth of materialism over the last few centuries may have obscured the common ground between our longing for spirituality and our longing for creating a better world.

In the last few decades, the resurgence of "engaged spirituality" has signaled the wide-spread hunger for a greater connection between the worlds of Spirit and politics. The common ground between these two can be understood as the immense possibility and potential at the heart of each human being. Spirituality is one way to honor "that of God" within each human being; our desire for social justice, another. In fact, many of the movements toward social justice in the 19^th century were initially inspired by the desire to allow full expression to the spiritual nature of our collective humanity, what Hegel termed our "species being." This movement toward honoring the unity of the human family is echoed throughout youth culture today, for example in the Rastafarian expression, "One Love."

The desire for wholeness in human beings, along many dimensions of experience, seems to be quite strong. For example, the fundamentalist movements around the world today that threaten to blur the distinction between Church and State are justifiably raising widespread concern among many. Yet they too can be understood as an attempt to honor the importance of Spirit, and to not allow Spirit to be excised from our collective life. As Michael Lerner points out in The Politics of Meaning, the most effective response to fundamentalism may not be to oppose it. Instead, in an aikido-like motion, we might seek to acknowledge and address the underlying needs it is attempting to fulfill.

In addition to engaged spirituality, another recent development of the last few decades has been the rediscovery of the indigenous contribution to democracy in the United States. Democracy in the Americas was influenced by ancient indigenous traditions developed over hundreds of thousands of years, in which egalitarianism and direct communication with Spirit were long-standing practices.  Given our species' long evolutionary history as hunters-and-gatherers, these forms of traditional knowledge may well be "encoded in our bones," more directly accessible to all of us than we have been taught to believe.

At the same time, we also want to learn from the mistakes of the past. Given the current state of the world, we might do well to exercise great care with regard to the "angry tempests" that Whitman mentions. The violence that accompanied the re-emergence of democracy in Europe reminds us of how fanaticism can distort any ideals. It can also serve as a grim caution that the process is as important as any "end product" we might envision. In turn, the last few centuries of successful experiments with non-violent social change may serve us in good stead, as we explore how deepening democracy can help us navigate our way safely toward a world beyond violence and war.

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