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.

Between The Imprisoned Self and Free Participation

The principle of participation in a democratic self is explored in more detail in this chapter. The psychological case of a client is presented who lacked any form of inner democracy at the beginning of the counseling process. Using this case, the processes of positioning and repositioning are elucidated and the argument is presented that the self can move from one level of inclusiveness to another: from one as an individual to one as a member of a group, to one as a human being, to one as part of the ecological environment and back. The flexible movements between these levels exemplify the workings of inner democracy. In this chapter, two concepts are central that are considered quintessential to developing inner democracy: taking a meta-position that allows us to take a long-term view of our functioning in a democratic society, and developing promoter positions that push the self forward to a largely unknown future.

Epilogue

One of the most daunting problems that inner democracy has to face in the future is the increasing power of algorithms in our everyday lives. Institutional structures have emerged that confront us with largely invisible and even unknown power and truth regimes as the result of technological advances. Such basic democratic values as freedom and equality need to be rethought, as new technological advancements tend to introduce new inequalities and new forms of social domination. In this context, the question is posed in this chapter about the role that education can play in protecting and fostering inner democracy. Developing inner democracy in a digital age will require answers from both technological and the educational angles as mutually complementary resources.

Inner Democracy as Multi-Voiced and Dialogical

This chapter elaborates on the interplay between divergent I-positions in order to create the optimal conditions for learning from others and from oneself. In that context, a distinction is made between rumination, self-reflection, and multi-voicedness, with the latter being the most fertile basis for inner democracy. Much attention is given to the difference between debate and dialogue and how hate speech is an obstacle to both. The argument is presented that dialogue offers better conditions for innovation of the self as part of a boundary-crossing and globalizing society. The chapter also address the politicization of emotion and the limitations of empathy.

The Mind-Expanding Potential of Opposing and Contradictory Positions

This chapter explores the connection between inner democracy and inner opposition. Literature shows that human beings function as a vessel of contradictions, but in the context of this book, the claim is made that herein lies exactly the basis for inner opposition and the potential of productive inner dialogue. The acknowledgment that we can hold contradictory positions and use them in a creative way functions as the breeding ground for the development of democracy as a learning process. In addition, a theory is presented here that shows that democracy itself is loaded with contradictions. On the one hand, it leads to emancipation, but on the other, it causes envy and resentment.

Inner Democracy and Political Intolerance

This chapter explores the shaky basis of political tolerance. There exists a contradiction between the broadly shared preference for democracy as a form of national politics and the evident unwillingness to grant democratic rights to disliked groups. This lack of political tolerance suggests that democracy is nothing more than a thin layer of varnish that can be easily scraped away. This observation leads to the question: What, in fact, is inner democracy? The answer lies in three characteristics of inner democracy: (1) space for opposition inside ourselves, (2) cooperation and learning from the diversity of positions we can assume, and (3) participation of a broad repertoire of inner positions, whose distinctive voices can be heard in the interactions with ourselves and with others.

The Truth-Holder

This chapter starts with the observation that inner democracy faces not only the power-holder as an important obstacle but also the presence of a truth-holder within. One has the inclination to dig oneself into the trenches of one’s own sense of being right, in which alternative or contrary viewpoints are no longer taken into consideration, and a productive dialogue with oneself or another person or group cannot come about. Providing knowledge about certain subject matter does not add much in this particular case, because many people are inclined to assume a point of view without knowledge about the underlying facts. In that context, the obstinacy with which we defend moral viewpoints and the intolerance for ambiguity are discussed.

The Power-Holder

In this chapter the reader is invited to look in the dark mirror of the power-holder in ourselves as someone who wants to dominate and limit other individuals or groups in the development of their potential. Referring to an obedience experiment, a prison experiment, and autobiographical material, the chapter aims to show that not only in situations in which obedience is required but also in situations in which people have some freedom to act as they want, power over someone else can manifest itself in an unbridled way. After describing the outcomes of these experiments, the chapter continues to explore the mechanisms of authoritarianism as a phenomenon that is spreading in contemporary societies like an oil slick.