Chapter 11: Nurturing Democratic Citizens: A Commitment for Psychology?

Democracy is one way of governing human societies; one that demands so many requisites that it has been a rarity in History. It is a system that guarantees individual rights and liberties and in which the government, elected by a majority of the population, follows and is controlled by the rule of law. Ideally, as Abraham Lincoln said in his celebrated Gettysburg address, it assumes that there is a “government of the people, by the people, for the people” committed to the idea that “all men are created equal” (1863). Such a system can only exist if powers, institutions and people reach an agreement and commit themselves to work together, even if they dissent in many issues. But this is no easy task. As Moghaddam (this volume) says, democracy is always in need of actualization, or otherwise runs the risk of decaying or even committing suicide. To avoid this, leadership, institutional support, and a population with “the social and psychological skills needed to become democratic citizens” (p. 9) have to work together.