DemocraticPromise.org — A renewal of the founding promise of democracy in America

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The Promise

We uphold these self-evident principles of life, liberty, and community

• All persons are created equal and possess an enduring, equal inherent worth, independent of the variations of nature and skill.
• All persons are imperfect, but we can always become better tomorrow than we are today.
• All persons have an inalienable right to the freedom and opportunity to better ourselves and to fulfill our potential, as individuals and as citizens of the community.
• Freedom and opportunity arise only in organizations, communities, and nations where there is democracy: where there is shared authority, mutual accountability, and respect for individual initiative among all citizens.
• Democracy can be sustained only where there is a balance of power among all citizens.
• A balance of political power requires a balance of economic power.
• A balance of economic power is the natural and inevitable result of fair markets, fair trade, and fair pay, and any imbalance beyond natural human variation reveals an abuse of power.

We uphold these necessary principles of democratic governance

• Promotion of the common good is necessary to promote a balance of power and to build a nation that stands and prospers together.
• Provision for the common defense is necessary to protect our nation, our communities, and our democracy from external threats.
• Freedom of speech and press is necessary for fulfillment of our potential through the exchange of information and ideas, and for transparency and accountability in public and corporate affairs.
• Protection of individual liberty and personal privacy is necessary to ensure that we remain free to explore and fulfill our potential.
• Freedom of religion and conscience is necessary to preserve individual liberty and a respect for individual initiative.
• Separation of church and state is necessary to protect freedom of religion, ensuring that government will never promote one religion over and above the rest.
• Separation of powers is necessary to protect the balance of power, ensuring that every institution, office, or position is subject to check or review by others.
• Rule by law rather than by the arbitrary power of wealthy individuals or corporations, is necessary to ensure that public and corporate governance is subject to the mechanisms of democracy.
• Stewardship of our natural world is necessary to preserve nature's health, diversity, and abundance, and to preserve, for ourselves and our posterity, the opportunity to fulfill our potential.