I think it is quite obvious that there are top down aspects to the SG as well as robust bottom up aspects In my next posting and the ones to follow I am going to explore this phenomenon one source at a time I am going to start with the book Beyond Global Crisis by Terrence Edward Paupp I think what is needed here is a discussion of what is and what is not democracy Also is there a difference between democracy and democratic We seem to be stuck on one person one vote as the paragon virtue of democracy They tried that in Egypt Libya and fingers crossed jury still out Tunisia Lesson learned just giving a vote does not result in democracy especially in the absence of the elements of democracy and democratic institutions Even in Wikipedia there are many articles about democracy each offering different perspectives far beyond one person one vote I really do suggest that we take the time to look at creative democracy deliberative democracy associative democracy grassroots democracy subsidiarity cellular democracy and civil society I am sure there are others as well Because this is an important issue I think we should look at various sources we are familiar with and try to see what these sources suggest pertaining to the SG and democracy