Next week a group of GLC graduates and I are starting in on an exciting adventure with the Interactivity Foundation.  Interactivity Foundation Fellow Dennis Boyer asked us to be part of an ongoing discussion about democracy.

To get us thinking before we sit down together, Dennis threw a couple questions our way.

1. Why do we want democracy?
2. What are some of the dimensions of democracy?
3. What are some of the questions we need/want to ask about how democracy "works"?

His questions made me think.  What do we mean by democracy? 

Many of us who live in the US take pride in living in a democracy, but do we act in ways that encourage the democratic process to flourish or do we starve it?

Democracy is a tough form of governance because it depends on the people governed taking an active role. 

We've got elections coming up in just a few weeks.  I hope everyone who is eligible is going to get out there and vote.  That's a good start to being active in a democracy.  But there's more,  your elected officials need you.  Some of them need you to provide guidance, after all they don't know everything.  Some of them need you to hold their feet to the fire.    Elected officials need to sit next to you at committee members as equals, and to hear you at common council meetings, via email, in news outlets, on the net,  and in protest.

It's hard work and it takes a long time, but it's needed for us, for the world, and for the future.

What does democracy mean to you