In my previous post, I found out what an “attitude” is and which attitudes are essential to have in a democracy. Attitudes are made up of the four components belief, emotion, evaluation and behaviour and it seems that it all starts with belief. I must admit I was a little surprised that democracy seems to have more in common with “faith” than with politics…The European Council (EC) names six attitudes that are essential for people to adopt in a democracy. However, how do I actually “perform” these attitudes or what do they involve? Therefore, I have created tables in this post where I list those qualities that I need to have, according to the…

I tried to figure out which VALUES I need to have as a democratically minded person in my previous post. I learned that the values in the Framework model of the European Council (EC) form the foundation of democratic competence and are essential for any political competence to be considered “democratic”. According to the EC, “an attitude is the overall mental orientation which an individual adopts towards someone or something (for example a person, a group, an institution, an issue, an event, a symbol).” Attitudes usually consist of four components: a Belief or Opinion about “something or someone” we are facing, an Emotion or Feeling towards it, the Evaluation (either positive or negative) of it, and a particular way of Behaviour towards that object or person. It…

In the model of the European Council, Respect is defined as “an attitude towards someone (or some ”thing”, like nature) who we believe to have some kind of importance, worth or value, which again warrants our positive regard and esteem.” “In the context of a culture of democracy, respect for the intrinsic dignity, equality and the inalienable human right to choose their own cultural affiliations, beliefs, opinions or practices different from our own is considered especially important.” They are pretty clear about it: without this respect, it will not be possible to facilitate democratic interaction or intercultural dialogue. However, showing respect in this way does not imply we have to minimize or ignore the actual difference.…