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Chapter 14 - Democracy as a Moral Challenge

from Part III - For the People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2022

By
Gian Vittorio Caprara
Edited by
Ashley Weinberg
Ashley Weinberg
Affiliation:
University of Salford
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Summary

Democracy’s realisation depends upon citizens’ aspirations and capacities to sustain forms of self-governance that promote the expression of their personalities and the full actualisation of their potentials. The development of citizens’ personalities and of democracy are in fact mutually interdependent. Whereas citizens’ world views, reasoning, values, aspirations and habits are crucial to sustain the functioning of democratic institutions, the latter set the conditions for nurturing beliefs, motivations and behaviours that accord with their optimal development and with the pursuit of the common good. This makes democracy a challenge that cannot be successfully achieved unless grounded on the moral commitment of all citizens to treat each other with the same respect as each would like to be treated and to care for one another’s wellbeing as one might care for one’s own growth and happiness. Democracy is destined to fail unless the moral agency of citizens operates as a moderator of the new iniquities carried by modernity.

Keywords

DemocracyCitizens’ personality developmentMoral commitment
Type
Chapter
Information
Psychology of Democracy
Of the People, By the People, For the People
 , pp. 307 - 331
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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