Editing Grassroots democracy

{{Short description|Type that favors individual activism}}
{{Refimprove|date=May 2016}}
{{Democracy}}
{{Green politics sidebar |Pillars}}

'''Grassroots democracy''' is a tendency towards designing [[politics|political]] processes that shift as much decision-making authority as practical to the organization's lowest geographic or social level of organization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yourdictionary.com/grassroots-democracy|title=Grassroots-democracy dictionary definition - grassroots-democracy defined|website=Yourdictionary.com|access-date=25 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allwords.com/word-grassroots+democracy.html|title=Definition of grassroots democracy|website=Allwords.com|access-date=25 October 2017}}</ref> 

[[Grassroots]] organizations can have a variety of structures; depending on the type of organization and what the members want. These can be non-structured and non-hierarchical organizations that are run by all members, or by whichever member wishes to do something.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://next-nexus.info/writing/politics/grassroots%20democracy.php |title=Grassroots Democracy |access-date=2015-08-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726172735/http://next-nexus.info/writing/politics/grassroots%20democracy.php |archive-date=2015-07-26 }} </ref> 

To cite a specific hypothetical example, a national grassroots organization would place as much decision-making power as possible in the hands of local chapters or common members instead of the head office.  The principle is that for [[democracy|democratic]] power to be best exercised it must be vested in a local community and common members and instead of isolated, atomized individuals, at the top of the organization. Grassroots organizations can inhabit [[Participatory democracy|participatory systems]].  Grassroots systems differ from [[republic|representative]] systems that allow local communities or national memberships to elect representatives who then go on to make decisions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Qin |first=Yunyi |date=2023-06-15 |title=Grassroots governance and social development: theoretical and comparative legal aspects |journal=Humanities and Social Sciences Communications |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1057/s41599-023-01830-8 |issn=2662-9992|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The difference among the three systems comes down to where they rest on two different axes:  the rootedness in a community (grassroots versus national or international);  and the ability of all individuals to participate in the shared decision-making process (participatory versus representative).

==As an economic system==
{{Main|Libertarian socialism}}
Grassroots democracy is a key component of [[Libertarian socialism| libertarian socialist]] political philosophies, which, for various reasons, advocate putting firms under the control of local communities or councils. For example, [[Eco socialism|eco-socialists]] argue that firms should be controlled by the group of people whose ecosystem is directly affected by that firm's activity. Meanwhile, [[Anarchism|Anarchists]] view contemporary forms of employment as examples of unjust and unnecessary forms of hierarchy and centralization. Finally, [[libertarian Marxism|Libertarian Marxists]] view history as a [[Class conflict|struggle between various social groups]] where the inclusive nature of a grassroots economy will enable new socioeconomic groups to emerge such that these struggles will abate, thereby, [[progressivism| improving the human condition.]]
 
==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Anarchism]]
* [[Libertarian socialism]]
* [[Popular assembly]]
* [[Cell church]]
* [[Cellular democracy]]
* [[Community organizing]]
* [[Decentralisation]]
* [[Direct democracy]]
* [[Eco-socialism]]
* [[Social ecology (Bookchin)|Social ecology]]
* [[Democratic confederalism]]
* [[International Simultaneous Policy Organization]]
* [[Libertarian municipalism]]
* [[Localism (politics)]]
* [[Open source governance]]
* [[Subsidiarity]]
* [[Workplace democracy]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grassroots Democracy}}
[[Category:Political terminology]]
[[Category:Types of democracy]]
[[Category:Political metaphors]]
[[Category:Metaphors referring to plants]]