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 Big Ideas
is a series of talks addressing
some of
humanity’s shared challenges and opportunities as we work to advance an
emerging global civilization. This series brings together perspectives
from the Baha'i writings with current research and experience as well
as contemporary discourses on key issues of our time.
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Friday,
March 10, 2023, 7:30 EDT
"Moving past MAD: A Baha'i Perspective on Multiparty Adversarial Democracy" with Michael Sabet An Multiparty Adversarial Democracy (MAD), the prevalent form of democracy in the modern world, is proving to be an inadequate model for political institutions grappling with humanity’s ever-complexifying challenges. This presentation focuses on two of MAD’s premises – the non-perfectibility of the human being, and the untrustworthiness of institutions – that inhibit the development of a culture of deliberation and rich democratic engagement. The presentation then explores two alternatives to MAD. First, Gandhian swaraj suggests how a vision of the human being as spiritually perfectible can ground a very different conception of politics. Second, the practice of the Bahá'í community demonstrates how, in practical terms, such a vision can ground an institutional system that is culturally and procedurally richly democratic.
( We
recommend watching in full screen mode. )
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Notice:
The views and opinions expressed in this series of presentations are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the Ottawa Bahá'í community and/or its institutions. |
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©
The
Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís
of Ottawa, Canada
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