Strong Democracy

Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age by Benjamin R. Barber was published by the University of California Press in 1984 and republished in a twentieth anniversary edition in 2004. A classic of democratic theory, the book argues that representative or "thin" democracy is rooted in an individualistic "rights" perspective that diminishes the role of citizens in democratic governance. The work offers a theoretical critique of representative or liberal democracy and a foundation for participatory politics. The final chapter elucidates practical ways to apply the theory of strong democracy in large industrial societies.

Strong democracy is also discussed in The Local Politics of Global Sustainability by Herman Daly, Thomas Prugh and Robert Costanza (2000), and is defined as "Politics understood as the creation of a vision that can respond to and change with the changing world." The authors go on to describe strong democracy thus:

Advocates for strengthening democratic institutions and practices in the United States were convened beginning in 2008 under the title of Strengthening Our Nation’s Democracy (SOND). The convenings brought together advocates of electoral reform, campaign finance reform, civic engagement, deliberative democracy, open government, civil rights, collaborative governance, media reform, service and immigrant civic inclusion to identify how they could better collaborate with one another. Among the convening organizations of Strengthening Our Nation's Democracy were AmericaSpeaks, Demos, Everyday Democracy, and faculty from Harvard's Ash Center for Democratic Innovation and Governance. As a result of the convenings, the groups formed a coalition called the Campaign for Stronger Democracy.

...
Wikipedia