Results from the GAP (Group Assembly Process) Group Democracy at the Degrowth Conference in Leipzig 2014

Proposals for the Transformation
The necessary shifts will only be democratic but it needs to be an alternative to the representative democratic system we experience today.
> More time.
> More inclusive.
> Enable autonomous societies.
> Look for windows of opportunity.

System should be a combination of direct and delegated democracy with binding mandate:
> Direct democracies are the fundamental building blocks.
> Delegated democracy is accountable to smallest units.
> Direct democracy/ real autonomy needs some (self-determined) fundamental rules or institutional safeguards or norms (e.g. non-racism, ecological, human rights etc).
> Direct democracy is a deliberative learning process/ consensus.
> Need to connect degrowth to existing direct democratic structures.

Controversial aspects:
> Democracy and education should be free from economic interest/commodification.
> Political parties should be dissolved.
> Create spaces and networks for enhanced participation in politics and decision-making (e.g. citizen juries).
> More participatory institutions.
> Experiments for different kinds of decision-making.
> The question of power:
> > Representative democracy is flawed in terms of power-distribution.
> > Power is necessary for the shift, direct democracy might not provide this.

Stirring paper:
> A postgrowth society will have to be democratic or will not be at all

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