Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes where as much decision-making authority as practical is shifted to the organization's lowest geographic level of organization. To cite a specific hypothetical example, a national grassroots organization, such as an NGO, would place as much decision-making power as possible in the hands of a local chapter instead of the head office. The principle is that for democratic power to be best exercised it must be vested in a local community instead of isolated, atomized individuals. As such, grassroots organizations exist in contrast to so-called participatory systems, which tend to allow individuals equal access to decision-making irrespective of their standing in a local community, or which particular community they reside in. As well, grassroots systems also differ from representative systems that allow local communities or national memberships to elect representatives who then go on to make decisions. The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. ... NGO is an abbreviation or code for: Non-governmental organization Nagoya Airport (IATA code) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... For other uses, see Democracy (disambiguation). ... Participatory democracy is a broadly inclusive term for many kinds of consultative decision making which require consultation on important decisions by those who will carry out the decision. ... Look up republic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

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

Many anarchists advocate all decision-making made by grassroots democracy as opposed to the state with agreements between communities made by voluntary federations. Anarchist redirects here. ... For other uses, see State (disambiguation). ...

See also

• Cell church
• List of politics-related topics
• International Simultaneous Policy Organization
• Subsidiarity
• EcoCommunalism

A cell church is a Christian church structure centering on the regular gathering of cell groups. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Liberal democracy History of democracy Referenda Representative democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by ideology... The International Simultaneous Policy Organisation (ISPO) is a voluntary organization that promotes the ideas of Simultaneous Policy (SP). ... Subsidiarity is the idea that matters should be handled by the smallest (or, the lowest) competent authority. ... Eco-Communalism is an environmental philosophy based on ideals of simple living, local economies, and self-sufficiency (often associated with the ideologies of socialism, communalism, and sustainability). ...

External links

• Big Picture TV Vandana Shiva on Earth Democracy
• Big Picture TV Frances Moore Lappe on Living Democracy