Principles and Values

Humanity progresses through social evolution and through the communication of ideas to them coalescing into a single unified paradigm that gains widespread acceptance. A pre-democratic, pre-Athenian world where hierarchical systems were ruled by the ones who had power from land ownership and could afford to pay for armies, was universal. From these emerged successful societies when the rulers allowed their subjects to be free thinkers and have a say. The creativity that emerged allowed everybody to flourish. From this beginning, in its rudimentary form, democracy has seen two and a half millennia in which it has gone through cycles of growth and regression to the position we find ourselves in today.

2026 and we see that democracy is under attack from both external threats and from within. With the global situation, both environmental and geo-politic as it is, the stakes have never been higher.

Democracy is misunderstood. It is much more than simply having a vote and the ability to elect, although in the eyes of many that is how it is perceived. If it was only that, many authoritarian regimes would consider themselves as democratic. There would be no sham elections. Foregone conclusions would be acceptable.

Life is complex and multi-faceted. By necessity we have to narrow our interest and efforts to what we are able to manage. As individuals we are the centre of our own lives, and that is also true for everybody else. Over the horizon and around the world in all directions are many personal life centres. Just because I stand on Planet Earth and the centre of my life is where I stand, it does not make my personal centre, ‘The Centre’. The democrat appreciates that each personal life has the same validity as every other personal life. The democrat realises that from a global perspective we all have prejudices and biases from which we cannot escape.  With emotional maturity the democrat recognises that everybody is different, but everybody is also equal.

Working for democracy are many good people trying to make life better for everybody, not just themselves. Even within the democracy movement there are many different aspects and we have to specialise. What is lacking is the cohesion that unifies the pro-democracy movement into one organised whole, where its sum is much greater than the sum of the individual parts. This is not just about having an umbrella organisation to bring together all the pro-democracy groups, but a unified concept of what democracy is and something that all democrats can adhere to. This document is trying to achieve that.

In the simplest possible terms, it aims to define democracy, its values and what it stands for. It is arranged as a list of single sentence qualitative statements. The document is devoid of specific issues and examples. This is deliberate. Specific issues can be measured against the list of statements to see if it stands up to the test of being pro-democratic or not.

These principles and values have been derived so that it is clear what democracy is, what it entails and conversely to recognise when a given situation is not. All democrats should be able to subscribe and commit themselves to these values, even if there are some areas due to personal or local circumstances that may give rise to difficulty.

With autocrats often showing scant regard to preserving democracy this is arguably the most important strategic battle that humankind faces. Strong democracies internationally will result in a safer and healthier world.

The principles and values of Democracy are:

1. Democracy is a system of government established by the national constitution.
2. Democracy is a system of government in which the citizens are sovereign.
3. Democracy is as relevant to locality decision making as it is to whole populations.
4. Democracy is a system of making decisions that is free and fair, and with out fear or favour.
5. Democracy is not just about giving citizens the vote, but it is about encouraging them to have a say at all levels of decision making over issues that affect their lives.
6. Democracy is about understanding the responsibilities and strata of decision making and those decisions that need to be taken internationally, nationally, regionally, locally and by the individual.
7. Democracy is about setting up the structures that allows decisions to be made at the appropriate strata of government.
8. Democracy is about understanding when consultation is required with higher and lower strata.
9. Democracy is about understanding when a joint decision needs to be made with a neighbouring jurisdiction within the same strata level.
10. Democracy is above politics.
11. Democracy concerns itself with the process by which political decisions are made, not the decisions themselves, except when those decisions are relevant to democracy itself.
12. Democracy is about all being equal, regardless of status, occupation, race, religion, creed, age, gender, disability and orientation.
13. Democracy welcomes Diversity.
14. Democracy requires a system of law, order and justice.
15. Democracy is about having the respect for and developing those institutions that promote and support democracy.
16. Democracy supports the concept of universal human rights.
17. Democracy aims to maximise the personal freedom of all its citizens.
18. Democracy aims to maximise the potential of all its citizens.
19. Democracy aims to maximise the health of nature, the environment and the planet.
20. Democracy is about understanding the views and wishes of the electorate and for the elected to turn these views into actions on behalf of the whole electorate. 
21. Democracy is about the responsibility to present arguments in a manner that is balanced, truthful and fair. 
22. Democracy is about the minority acknowledging and respecting that there is an alternative prevailing majority view. 
23. Democracy is about the majority acknowledging and respecting the minority and that there is a minority point of view.
24. Democracy is about the majority acknowledging that they still have responsibility for the care of the minority.
25. Democracy is about free speech and the freedom to express oneself safely and freely without duress.
26. Democracy is about taking the privilege of free speech and using it responsibly.
27. Democracy has a responsibility to uphold and promote the truth and to reflect accurately on the world as it is.
28. Democracy is about having a free and responsible press to disseminate the news along with views and opinions in true and proper balance.
29. Democracy is about giving everybody equal access to the institutions and processes of democracy, regardless of their means or status.
30. Democracy is about the right to demonstrate peacefully and legally
31. Democracy has built within itself, the ability to correct mistaken decisions.
32. Democracy is not to be taken for granted.
33. Democracy is a privilege, a responsibility and a duty to be upheld.
34. Democracy should not be used as a means to manipulate the population, either for self-interest or against democracy itself.
35. Democracy is about having in place protection for Democracy and the institutions of Democracy.
36. Anything that is contrary to the above is undemocratic.