The Nine Revolutions of Democracy

In The End of Protest, Micah Bornfree offers us a rigorous and thoughtful way to interpret and understand how the various ways that we work for social change and social revolution fit together into a unified theory. Rather than an oppositional explanation for why theories of change might seem incompatible, he gives us a way of seeing how and importantly when different models might actually be allied and aligned, rather than opposed. Using two axes of the material-spiritual and subjective-objective, he helps us map the way these dimensions can help us organize our organizing, interventions, and theories of change not in opposition but in integrated ways.

Voluntarism (material and subjective) and structuralism (material and objective) dominate liberal activism with the core, individually oriented, direct action work organized by ladders of engagement of campaigns and most community advocacy groups driven by voluntarism while structuralism is often embraced by sector-wide donor perspectives. Too often these groups denigrate each other's theories of change as naive or heartless in turn and dismiss entirely the subjectivist (spiritual and subjective) and theurgist (spiritual and objective) approaches as either self-help newageism or unacceptable religiosity – both symptoms of the moral capture of materialism

"The universal theory is not the same as an eternal theory. Times changes and so too does the revolutionary theory appropriate to your era. The way you protested effectively yesterday may not be effective next week. Likewise, any true theory will not remain effective forever. This, all four quadrants are true, to varying degrees, at all times. The challenge is to not limit yourself to one quadrant. Instead, the goal is to ascend from material to spiritual and internal to external, attaining an understanding of each theory and sense of when each is appropriate.” ~ Micah Bornfree, The End of Protest

What Micah has really given us is a guide – a quaternity to examine, embrace, and embody in an ever-evolving balance. Each quadrant of his topology of revolution may be activated to create and embrace collective agency, systems change, narrative power, and moral clarity that must all be embraced, all levers pressed in a constant effort to push back on the unethical, unjust stories and attributes that modern Civilization has woven into our dysfunctional republic.

His unified theory is a four-fold path. It shows why we must always organize. And must always be context aware. And must always take good care of our spirit. And must always be guided by the moral clarity of truths that match the pattern of the universe. Our preferred methods of action, the theories we are most comfortable and confident with may not always have the most leverage. But as Micah reminds us, if protest is our method and in our particular moment protest can't hasten the revolution we seek, then "activists are free to protest in ways that bring happiness or vibrant community or beautiful art." That work may still be as essential to the revolution by elevating and galvanizing our communities, even if it's another lever, another intervention, another dimension of the unified theory that drives the transformation we are seeking. It is up to us how we balance the four at any given moment of history and that requires humility and collective alignment and trust.

A revolution for democracy

Democracy is how we share power in a free society. It is not one thing or one idea. It is a stack of values, principles, and practices that together align our beliefs in self-determination, self-government, pluralism, and interdependence with processes that ensure our civic life is fair, trusted, and joyous and that our collective efforts of leadership and participation produce systems that are shaped by the same values and principles.

As we look out and try to organize the work ahead of revolutionizing our democracy, there is work today at multiple altitudes and multiple time horizons. All nine are required and urgent – just because some work is long-term in horizon does not mean that it can wait. In fact that work is the most overdue and contributes to the immediate needs as symptoms of the greater, deeper dysfunctions we have allowed to persist. For each revolution required to transform our country into the democratic republic we need now, we must find the right balance of interventions across each dimension of the quaternity to ensure each revolution emerges.

Altitudes of action

A. Culture – promote and provide regular, repeatable civic practices and experiences that reinforce the underlying cultural values necessary to reweave our social fabric and strengthen the democratic cultural foundations of American society including providing infrastructure to support and encourage civic experiences built on an organizing model that more accurately reflects modern life.

1. Self-determination
   1. Equitable personal liberty
   2. Just rule of law
2. Self-government
   1. Energetic civic participation
   2. Fair (responsive, open, accountable) institutions
3. Pluralism
   1. Vibrant, healthy public spheres
   2. Regular, productive, public dialog characterized by humility and curiosity
4. Interdependence
   1. Commitment to civic duty
   2. Solidarity in shared responsibility and the desire to elevate others

B. Process & Procedure – support communities and campaigns that seek to reform and transform how we express this democratic culture in our political processes including providing infrastructure to ensure that our leaders and campaigns interface and engage communities in ways that support the civic experiences layer and organizing model and communicate in ways that leverage and respect the way communities tell stories, build culture, and activate in daily life.

1. How we select leaders
   1. Elections
   2. Campaign finance
2. How we make rules
   1. Parliamentary rulemaking
   2. Ethics policies
3. How we make decisions
   1. Majority rule versus consensus making
   2. Citizen assembly

C. Policy & Practice – support leaders and policies that seek to demonstrate these principles in action in systems that deliver on the core promises of our shared democratic values and continue to ensure our collective solidarity and productive, joyous civic life.

1. Civil service reform
2. Civic infrastructure, education, and engagement
3. Healthy, vibrant public spheres
4. Constitutional reform

Horizons of action

1. Immediate – direct actions and campaigns focused on current leadership and interventions in current systems to make them more effective and less cruel
2. Next cycle – multi-cycle commitments to communities and interventions including preparations for the 2025 off-cycle states and the 2026 Midterms
3. Next decade – generational cultural and systematic changes

The nine revolutions

1a. Basic deradicalization and reweaving of our social fabric
2a. Establishing new, healthier, regular civic rituals
3a. Renewing trust and social solidarity built on and with shared civic power

1b. Codifying healthy traditions
2b. Reforming accessible and participatory elections
3b. Expanding responsive and accountable governance 

1c. Elect reformers
2c. Reshape parties  
3c. Refine structures of power around resilient coalition government 

We need a resilient, responsive, more deeply democratic civic life – more than better elections, beyond better leadership. Each of theses revolutions of our culture, our processes, and our practice of democracy in America need balanced unified theories of revolution that knit together multiple interventions from each of Micah's quaternity across broad and diverse communities to achieve all that transformation. What Micah's model and this framework might could give us is the opportunity to dramatically and joyously embrace a much broader world full of allies, capable of deeper coordination, working on aligned outcomes across all nine revolutions – all of which are necessary and urgent.

Much more detailed conversations (probably some Weekend Editions...) on each altitude to come.

Last updated: 28 Feb 2025