Creating a Transparent Democracy

Creating a Transparent Democracy: A New Model. Shamar Rinpoche, 2006, 2007, 2011. New USA edition: November 2015. With a foreword by Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Capetown. Also available as a Kindle eBook.

“Citizens should be taught to be critical and to question all political, religious, medical, and scientific views. At the same time, they must be encouraged to participate in their democracy, bringing their own responsible views forward as part of a public dialogue on government policies, which is an essential element of the policy-making and law-making processes.”

According to Shamar Rinpoche, three things are necessary to enable humans to gain the maximum benefit from a democratic system of government: first, the smallest, most local democratic unit — a village, for example — must be granted the right and the duty to control the activities of the democratic unit above it, such as a county or state; second, the public must become politically literate before they can fully participate in self-rule; and third, all forms of political propaganda should be banned from public life. In the first section of Creating a Transparent Democracy: A New Model, the author explores the principles and philosophy that underlie the ideal state. In the second section, he presents his suggestions regarding the structure and administration of the ideal state as a genuine democratic system of governance that promotes the welfare and prosperity of a country’s citizens.

Language: English
ISBN 0996505911 (ISBN13: 978-0996505918)
Kindle ISBN13: 978-0996505925

Book Categories: Political Philosophy.