Stimulating and Impeding Factors For Inner Democracy
Some factors that stimulate inner democracy and some that impede it are extensively described in this chapter. Stimulating factors include the following: the flexibility to change from one perspective to another one, tolerance for uncertainty, the capacity to discern inner contradictions, learning to be empathic, and the sensitivity to see the multi-voicedness in other persons. Factors that impede inner democracy include the following: mutually exclusive truth claims, strong negative emotions, the epidemic spread of narcissism, and the temptation to embrace utopias, along with the simultaneous failure to note their apparent shadow sides and even their failures. The chapter also offers a summary of the case made for the workings of inner democracy.