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Summary

Braithwaite, John (1998). Democracy, community and problem solving Paper presented at the Building Strong Partnerships for Restorative Practices conference. Burlington, Vermont, August 5-7. Downloaded 24 May 2004.

While the number of democratic states continues to increase, Braithwaite declares that democracy is becoming more shallow in its meaning for human lives. Hence, he calls for a renewal of meaningful democracy – a new civic republicanism – reinvigorated by restorative justice ideas, values, and practices. Restorative justice itself he construes as drawing upon American republicanism and indigenous justice (e.g., Native American and Polynesian traditions). Hence, restorative justice offers more than merely a process for bringing stakeholders together to solve a problem. It has potential to be a significant vehicle for empowering democratic participation through active responsibility.

Link: iirp.org/library/vt/vt_brai.html

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