The logic of this progression—from direct, to representative, to participatory, to deliberative democracy (and then back again in different combinations and iterations between them)—points in a certain direction of increased capability for co-development and complex self-organization of society. But it also portends that new and subtler kinds of tyranny and oppression may emerge during the 21st century. And new sources of oppression can emerge where we least expect it: in the circles most committed to democratic ideals and to deepening democracy.
