Democracy Days
Philadelphia, PA 19101
United States
Description
Democracy is a system of decision-making that limits domination by maximizing participation.
But:
-Children are almost always excluded from participation in government.
-Children are often denied any real power over their own lives- how to spend their time, with whom, and where.
-Electoral, representative democracy can lead to policy outcomes that are deeply unpopular and fails to correct for forms of domination arising out of markets and culture.
What if a way to restore the promise of non-domination is to expand democracy to include the youngest members of society?
Democracy Days offers proof of concept through on the ground programs and reference resources through this website for thinking about children and democracy.
SDE Optimizing Conditions
- Responsibility – Kids decide what the point of the group is.
- Youth Autonomy – Kids set their own agendas for how to use their time.
- Access to Tools and Technology – No restrictions except those the kids agree to together.
- Adult Allies – Lead facilitator and rotating parents offer support for goals identified by kids.
- Free Age Mixing – No arbitrary age segregation, but voting is limited to over 7 in one group and over 5 in the other.
- Community – We discuss our decision-making rules and experiment with new ones as needed.
If any information about this resource is out of date, please let us know.