Free Pass protest in Sao Paulo. Vinicius Pinheiro. Flickr. All rights reserved.
Democracy is not only a "method" for making decisions and a set of rules for governing a political community. It is also a system of participation which depends on politically educated citizens, as well-organized as possible. It provides ethical and political guidelines for promoting the sharing of political power. In normative terms, it is a system where citizens rule through the allocation of responsibilities and power.
It is precisely because this is so, that democracy tends to be rocked when citizens and organizations change their pattern, driven by some great social transformation. This is what is happening today, in this age of speed, intensive technology, pervasive markets and entrenched individuality. Under conditions of global capitalism and "liquidity", democracy is challenged by a social demand for transformation that cannot be properly processed and attended. The will to "democratize democracy" often puts at odds participation and representation. While some claim to be ultra-democratic and are always requiring more spaces for protest and participation, the overwhelming role of markets and big business shifts democracy to the edge: it loses value, it becomes an ornament, it becomes something to be used and displayed, but not to be lived intensely.
