ABSTRACT
The third principle of Thriving Democracies is the strong and tight connection between citizens’ will-formation and decision-making. In representative democracies—according to the textbooks—this connection is guaranteed via elections. But reality often looks different. In many current democracies, the link has lessened considerably or is almost lost. Free and fair elections alone seem to be insufficient to ensure this link. This chapter recalls the fundamental promise of democracy that all power comes from the people. Based on the normative and empirical reasons spelled out in Chapter 1, it explains and argues that self-governing means per definition that citizens’ inclusive, collective will-formation feeds into decision-making. This chapter also clarifies the requirements for this principle, i.e., citizens’ preferences must be refined systematically.
