Oliver Escobar was raised in a country governed by a dictatorship. Now he is making a life work in democratic research, teaching, and advocacy. He says many or most of our democracies are very underdeveloped. They focus on just a few practices, elections and party politics, which are important but very limited aspects of democratic life. That underdevelopment may have played a role in bringing about what is now a time of great upheaval. That upheaval might in turn serve up an opportunity for renewal.
Peter Pula

The time to move well beyond representative democracy as the way we 'do democracy' is well upon us. Representative democracy has been found wanting. It has become the bastion of professional politicians, and the limits of its usefulness to the every day citizen are increasingly apparent. A strong argument can be made that worse than not being particularly useful, it has ensconced us in a system in which the political and state apparatus, in its habitual pattern, actually interferes with citizenry in a detrimental way. That does not mean that it must be abandoned, but it must be transcended. We must do better. And that means proliferating democracy into spaces where we as citizens can experience both agency and efficacy.
Peter Pula

We are in a global storm of shifting sands. Big, having the uses it does, has reached the limits of its usefulness. Doing more and more of Big isn’t going to get us any more significant results than it already has.
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1 day 18 hours agoJoin us tmro for the 2nd of 3 FREE pre-launch conversations w/@Peter_Block to hear more about our plans, reflect on possibilities, & to shape the upcoming year-long exploration w/#PeterBlock beginning in Sept! RSVP: https://t.co/arKmpaK6O0 #Community #FreedomAndAccountability
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2 days 15 hours agoRT @angelafell: We've been giving Polis a little go here in Wigan. Finding harmony where there's division & using it to help us de… https://t.co/XSTvuqSpoZ
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3 days 15 hours agoThis fall @Peter_Block will be alongside us for a year-long exploration — we'll put "Peter on the Spot" w/ what's alive in our worlds & catalyze lively reflection & dialogue amongst us. Join a free pre-launch call Wed. July 6: https://t.co/arKmpaK6O0 (#Sketchnote by @YHollandy) https://t.co/sDbQU0o31b
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5 days 22 hours agoRT @angelafell: Sustaining an eye injury has opened up time for listening to the podcast list There was much to say Yes to in thi… https://t.co/t6MM9KdT3U
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5 days 22 hours agoRT @citizen_network: ❓how will you be taking part with @nolabelsnowalls This year's No Labels No Walls CitizenFest hosted by The Strin… https://t.co/uSJPxn9CTZ
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5 days 22 hours agoRT @angelafell: What would it take to make a new deal & rewrite a social contract in favour of aliveness & belonging? Shift from d… https://t.co/w4Wc3xrB8P
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6 days 23 hours agoSustaining an eye injury has opened up time for listening to the podcast list There was much to say Yes to in this podcast. It’s Time to Reconfigure Relationships Between Non-Profits, Cities, and Government: Shaun Loney https://t.co/bYDp1uvIkk 🙏🏼 @AxiomNews https://t.co/7xF7SltWZq
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1 week 4 hours ago@citizen_network @nolabelsnowalls @MarkusVahala @AxiomNews We want to question the universalism of UBI. Progress in the UBI movement seems confined to developed countries.
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