ABSTRACT
How should a concern for the rights and integrity of the non-human world affect the way democratic societies function? This chapter explores different answers to this important question, one posed frequently since the early 1970s. The answers address two key themes: first, how can democratic institutions enable societies to respond to large scale destruction of the non-human world; and second how can this destruction help democratic societies rethink the norms and institutions of democracy as a way of making collective decisions?
