Democracy & Governance

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stories

Black Wall Street (Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma)

From revelation to reckoning to revolution: In pursuit of racial justice

by Isaiah J. Poole

MLK said we need “a radical redistribution of economic and political power” to address the impact of racism in America. One place to start is to assess the transgenerational impact of slavery and systemic racism on Black people and what it would take to repair that damage. read more
Race & Ethnicity Democracy & Governance
Los elementos de una economía democrática

Los elementos de una economía democrática

Las políticas y prácticas tradicionales evidentemente nos están fallando frente a las tendencias decadentes de largo plazo en cuanto a la desigualdad de ingresos, la concentración de la riqueza, la desinversión y desplazamiento de las comunidades, la pobreza persistente con carácter racial y geog read more
Democratic Ownership Democracy & Governance
Election celebration outside White House, November 7, 2020

After Trump, before Biden: What’s next for the American left?

by Joe Guinan

Trumpism—whether or not it morphs into a new form, with a new leadership or strategy—is something we still don’t understand properly. The outcome of this election shows we have a lot more work to do to ensure the Trumpers don’t have a continuing path forward. read more
Movement Strategy & History Democracy & Governance
YouGov/Democracy Collaborative 2020 poll

The popular mandate for a democratic economy in 2020

by Isaiah J. Poole

The 2020 poll by YouGov for The Democracy Collaborative shows broad support for innovative policies that lead to a reparative and sustainable economy in which wealth and power are shared broadly. read more
Democracy & Governance Democratic Ownership Movement Strategy & History
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Democracy & Governance Stories

videos

Building the Democratic Economy, From Preston to Cleveland

The story of how the city of Preston in the UK got inspired by Cleveland’s Evergreen Cooperatives and helped launch a movement to build community wealth and a more democratic economy. read more
Democratic Ownership Democracy & Governance
Illustration of groups of people connected by lines

The Pluralist Commonwealth

by Gar Alperovitz

In this video, Next System Project Co-chair Gar Alperovitz sketches the major institutions of a systemic alternative based in plural forms of democratic ownership, orientated around community at various scales—what he calls “The Pluralist Commonwealth.” read more
Community & Place Democratic Ownership Democracy & Governance
"We Need An Alternative", on top of an image of a factory.

Toward Democratic Eco-Socialism

by John Duda, Hans A. Baer

Social systems, whether they exist at the local, regional, or global levels, do not last forever. Capitalism, as a globalizing political economic system committed to profit making and continual economic growth, has created a treadmill of production and consumption that is heavily dependent upon fossil fuels and has resulted in greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. read more
Environment & Energy Democracy & Governance
Money laid out on a chalkboard with arrows drawn around the coins.

What is a participatory workplace?

As part of our “New Systems: Possibilities and Proposals” series, Robin Hahnel sketched the basic contours of a model for a participatory economy. read more
Democratic Ownership Democracy & Governance
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Democracy & Governance Videos

collections

A geometric construction overlaid over a gradient

New Systems: Possibilities and Proposals

Truly addressing the problems of the twenty-first century requires going beyond business as usual – it requires “changing the system.” But what does this mean? And what would it entail? read more
Democracy & Governance
Lots of elements of a community powered by sustainable energy: solar, wind, and more.

Building Community Capacity for Energy Democracy: A Deck of Strategies

by John Duda, Thomas Hanna, Matthew Burke

Energy democracy is the simple idea that the transition we urgently need to clean, renewable sources of energy should be accomplished hand-in-hand with the expansion of a more equitable economy and of a more participatory democracy. read more
Environment & Energy Democracy & Governance
Lots of elements of a community powered by sustainable energy: solar, wind, and more.

La Democracia Energética: Una Baraja de Cartas

by John Duda, Thomas Hanna, Matthew Burke

La democracia energética es la sencilla idea de que la transición a fuentes de energía renovables, que tan urgentemente necesitamos, debería ir de la mano con la expansión de una economía más equitativa y de una democracia más participativa. read more
Environment & Energy Democracy & Governance
A man looking at a pink sea.

Latin America’s “pink tide” and the challenge of systemic change

As the United States confronts its own political crossroads, we hope the insights here can contribute to a sharpening our analysis of political change and help further our understanding of the possibilities—and challenges—that await us as we pursue system change. read more
Democracy & Governance
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Democracy & Governance Collections

reports

Public bank

Constructing the Democratic Public Bank: A governance proposal for Los Angeles

by Michael Brennan

Public banks have the potential to address a host of economic, social, and ecological crises, but it is important to get the institutional structure right. This report offers recommendations for a Los Angeles public bank and addresses key questions of who the public bank serves and how. read more
Money & Banking Democracy & Governance
COVID-19 and 21st century public ownership

COVID-19 and 21st century public ownership

by Thomas Hanna, Mathew Lawrence

COVID-19 has made the case for reimagining the ownership and governance of our economies on both sides of the Atlantic more urgent than ever. To meet the needs of the moment, an agenda to extend democratic public ownership is essential. read more
Democratic Ownership Democracy & Governance
A Common Platform

A Common Platform: Reimagining data and platforms

by Thomas Hanna, Mathew Lawrence, Nils Peters

Digital platforms have proven indispensable to how we live, work, and play. The challenge is to set principles and implement policies that liberate the democratic and enlivening potential of the platform from the logic of concentrated corporate ownership and profit maximization. read more
Democratic Ownership Democracy & Governance
Democratizing knowledge

Democratizing knowledge: Transforming intellectual property and research and development

by Thomas Hanna, Dana Brown, Miriam Brett

We need to embed principles of democratic ownership and control to the fields of intellectual property and research and development, so that these crucial economic pillars become drivers of equity, sustainability and the common good rather than wealth inequality and concentration. read more
Democratic Ownership Democracy & Governance
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Democracy & Governance Reports