Hastings Cent Rep. 2021 Jan;51 Suppl 1:S58-S63. doi: 10.1002/hast.1231.
Forces including extreme economic inequality, cultural polarization, and the monetizing and privatizing of persons as commodities are undermining the forms of moral recognition and mutuality upon which democratic practices and institutions depend. These underlying factors, together with more direct modes of political corruption, manipulation, and authoritarian nationalism, are undoing Western democracies. This essay identifies and explores some vital underpinnings of democratic citizenship and civic learning that remain open to revitalization and repair. Building care structures and practices from the ground up and developing inclusive and egalitarian modes of solidarity in a pluralistic society are the focus of discussion. The essay argues that solidarity and care are essential relationships and practices of moral recognition upon which democratic political agency and freedom rest. The social-relational lifeworld and the democratic lifeworld are interdependent. Democratic citizenship is itself a relational practice that supports other practices. Democratic governance properly carried out fosters an underlying social solidarity and care and in turn draws moral and political legitimacy upward from them.
包括极端经济不平等、文化极化以及将人作为商品进行货币化和私有化在内的各种力量正在破坏民主实践和制度所依赖的道德认同和相互关系形式。这些潜在因素，再加上更直接的政治腐败、操纵和威权民族主义模式，正在颠覆西方民主。本文确定并探讨了一些仍然可以恢复活力和修复的民主公民身份和公民学习的重要基础。从基础开始构建关怀结构和实践，并在多元化社会中发展包容和平等的团结模式，是讨论的重点。本文认为，团结和关怀是民主政治代理和自由所依赖的道德认同的必要关系和实践。社会关系生活世界和民主生活世界是相互依存的。民主公民身份本身就是一种支持其他实践的关系实践。民主治理的正确实施促进了潜在的社会团结和关怀，反过来又从这些团结和关怀中汲取道德和政治合法性。
