Democracy is an emotion. Like any other emotion, its presence is recognized through our feelings. Just as someone knows when she is angry or sad, every person carries within her an instinctive recognition of that state which signals saftey from all forms of oppression, a place of true liberty.

Democracy represents the triumph of every individual's potential. It enables people to cultivate friendships and relationships as well as individual self-development. Democractic societies value mutual aid, because they understand that in helping others, a person creates the very same conditions which will provide her with assistance and comfort when she requires it. Mutual aid encourages the cultivation of brotherhood and the forming of steadfast interpersonal bonds. It creates community.

(read the rest: http://www.demandmore.org/2006/09/21/democracy/)