How do the young conservatives who wrote the sharon statement understand freedom. Sds, democracy, participatory democracy, manifesto collection radicaldemocracyproject. This is the fiftieth anniversary year of the port huron statement, the founding declaration of students for a democratic society, issued as a living document in 1962. As a social system we seek the establishment of a democracy of individual participation so that the individual can share in those. We seek the establishment of a democracy of individual participation governed by two central aims. The experience of participatory democracy after the port huron statement holds several lessons for activists today.
The vision call of the 1960s revolution 9781560257417. He coined the term participatory democracy, but the idea is pervasive in us history and traces back to thoreau. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The port huron statement was written in port huron, michigan, at a meeting of students for a democratic society. Initially drafted by tom hayden and debated over the course of three days in 1962 at a meeting of student leaders, the statement was issued by students for a. What the port huron statement still has to say, 50 years. Students for a democratic society port huron statement june 15, 1962 excerpts from the original electronic text at the web site of the sixties project. Our representatives in congress really do not represent us, the people, they represent their own interests, and we allow it. This year has already seen a large number of academic events reflecting on the documents golden anniversary, including a conference at uc santa barbara in february, a dialogue on the port huron statement between noam chomsky and tom hayden at mit in april, and a short series of lectures at the havens center for the. Port huron statement students for a democratic society. Participatory democracy from the 1960s and sds into the future. The port huron statement was one of the most important manifestos of the new left in the united states. June 15, 2012, marked the fiftieth anniversary of the port huron statement.
A discussion of richard flacks and nelson lichtensteins. The sds call for a participatory democracy echoes today in studentled democracy movements around the world, even appearing as the first principle of the occupy wall street september 17 declaration. I am looking backward to the port huron conference of 1962 and its relations to the early new left movements for participatory democracy in europe and especially in federal germany. This document represents the results of several months of writing and discussion among the membership, a draft paper, and revision by the students for a democratic society national convention meeting in port huron, michigan, june 1115, 1962. Participatory democracy and deliberative democracy ecpr. The authors of the post huron statement see democracy as a privelige that all eligible suitors should participate in. The port huron statement was the most important manifesto of the new left student movement of the 1960s. The port huron statement at fifty dissent magazine.
It is true that the conditions today are different, but the transcendent goals of the statement still capture the imagination and the heart. Port huron and the new left movements in federal germany michael vester in this essay, i am looking backward and forward. In june 1962, an sds national convention was held in a uaw camp located in. The port huron statement and deep problems with american democracy the port huron statement was the foundation on which to build a movement for participatory democracy in the 1960s. Its key idea, participatory democracy, proved a watchword for sixties radicalism that has also reemerged in popular protests from the arab. During the late spring of 1962, 60 students whom where part of the students for a democratic society gathered together for four days and nights, in michigan at a lakeside camp of port huron. Tom hayden, the driving force behind the manifesto, was a student at the university of michigan and came from a. Participatory democracy, the central idea of the port huron statement, is today more relevant than ever before. The ambition of tom hayden and the other authors of the port huron statement as hayden acknowledges in his 2005 preface is matched only by its inspiring that a bunch of radically progressive 20something students produced a document which catalyzed a movement that changed the western world as we know it.
The emphasis on individual rights sharon or participatory democracy port huron, carried to extremes, leads to the kind of paralysis the commentator jonathan rauch has termed demosclerosis, in which its all too easy for determined stakeholders to protect special privileges or block needed public improvements, such as a subway. But, he continued, the core of the port huron statement rings true, and the theme of participatory democracy is relevant today from cairo to occupy wall street to wisconsin to studentled. We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit. The famous 1962 port huron statement by the students for a democratic society sds introduced the concept of participatory democracy to popular discourse and practice.
What the port huron statement still has to say, 50 years on. Written in 1960 by a core group of the fledgling students for a democratic society, the statement became a manifesto for the new left. A pdf file of a scan of the draft document is also available. The port huron statement called for the growth and implementation of participatory democracy across college campuses, in the south, and in inner cities. The founding document of students for a democratic society sds, widely considered the political manifesto of the new left. The visionary call of the 1960s revolution new york. The port huron statement of students for a democratic society, written fifty years ago this june, is the most ambitious, the most specific, and the most eloquent manifesto in the history of the american left. The sources for this call for participatory democracy when i drafted the port huron statement was exposure to john dewy at michigan through.
A halfcentury after the students for a democratic society adopted their seminal manifesto, 14 activistsincluding three. The assault on labor rights launched in wisconsin and other midwest states during 2011, the rise and fall of occupy wall street as a movement against inequality, and the continuing institutionalization of global capitalism and financial capitals power within it all raise the. Students for a democratic society, the port huron statement new york. The sources for this call for participatory democracy when i drafted the port huron statement was exposure to john dewy at michigan through courses i took with coffman. Less known is the fact that he was an sds leader at columbia. It issued a nonideological call for participatory democracy, both as a means and an end, based on nonviolent civil. Port huron statement of the students for a democratic. And this was the night the students made the port huron statement. The statement was a generational call for direct participatory democracy in which americans would have greater say over the decisions affecting their lives. The port huron statement advocated participatory democracy, and i do not think we have that even today. Such fundamental problems with democracy continue today.
A foundational statement of the theme of participatory democracy, the text had an important influence on post1960s politics and, arguably, on post1960s. The port huron statement introduces the term participatory democracy in a participatory democracy, political life would be based on several root principles and presents some fundamental theoretical schemes. It is also, at just over 25,000 words, undoubtedly the longest one. Participatory democracy and deliberative democracy. Port huron statement, reprinted in tom hayden, the port huron statement. The assault on labor rights launched in wisconsin and other midwest states during 2011, the rise and fall of occupy wall street as a movement against inequality, and the continuing. The port huron statement richard flacks, nelson lichtenstein. The port huron statement and political science a discussion of. The writers of the document believed that ordinary citizens, particularly students, could create change through nonviolent means. Participatory democracy with its battlecry let the people decide was the call of 60some young american activists who launched the students for a. In inspiring participatory democracy tom hayden, one of the principal architects of the statement, analyses its historical impact and relevance to todays movements.
Sds founder, veteran activist tom hayden on participatory. In a participatory democracy, the political life would be based in several. In their definition, spreading political freedom was at its core about each and every person in the society having a voice and participating in the democratic process. For the final, published port huron statement, click here. Port huron statement of the students for a democratic society, 1962.
The convention itself embodied participatory democracy through the discussion and debate over the text of the statement. The port huron statement resonates to this day for example, in the 17 september manifesto of occupy wall street, which called for a direct and transparent participatory democracy. We speak with tom hayden, principal author of the port huron statement 50 years ago, the founding document of students for a democratic society sds. Port huron statement exhibit resistance and revolution. The newness of them demands intellectual selfreliance from a younger generation that fears to be its own leadership. The port huron authors focused on promoting a vision of american democracy in the 1960s that was about deepening democratic participation by all members of society. The port huron statement 1962 the american yawp reader. No document better frames and explains the 1960s than the port huron statement. Excerpts from the port huron statement of students for a democratic society, 1962. It called for the extension of democratic principles to the workplace as well as the electoral arena. The port huron statement is a 1962 political manifesto of the american student activist. The student department of the league for industrial democracy, 1964.
Participatory democracy from the 1960s and sds into the. Its embrace of participatory democracy and egalitarianism. As a social system we seek the establishment of a participatory democracy, governed by two. The port huron statement was originally thought of as a manifesto, but sds members moved instead to call it. In a participatory democracy, the political life would be based in several root principles. What do the authors of the port huron statement appear to mean by participatory democracy. Port huron statement june 15, 1962 excerpts from the original electronic text at the web site of the sixties project. Port huron statement draft this is the text of the original draft of the 1962 port huron statement, as distributed by alan haber to the attendees at the sds northeast regional conference, april 23, 2006. The port huron statement introduces the term participatory democracy in a participatory democracy, political life would be based on several root principles. The port huron statement was a 1962 manifesto by the students for a democratic society sds, written primarily by student activist tom hayden, that proposed a new form of participatory democracy to rescue modern society from destructive militarism and cultural alienation.
When we were kids the united states was the wealthiest and strongest country in the world. The port huron statement of students for a democratic. News analysis the port huron statement at 50 news analysis 32514, 8. Keynote address by tom hayden, delivered on the 50th anniversary of the port huron statement, at the university of michigan.
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