Aloha Everyone:

Two weeks ago we awoke to the awareness that, although 48% of the voters in the presidential election cast their votes for a person identified at "the most liberal person in the Senate," all of us would have to live with a far right wing, militaristic president. This results in the selection of other leaders in the cabinet who promote policies and practices that are far right in political philosophy and practice. The manner in which our political institutions are structured continue to promote a "winner take all psychology" which effectively silences a sizeable portion of the population, and undermines the notion of democracy (a government of the people, by the people, and for the people) in many important and destructive ways.

My own cultural-political biases lead me to conclude that: [1] democracy is preferable to authoritarian rule; [2] democracy in it's truest form ameliorates elitism in social structures and equalizes unjust forms of privilege in our society; [3] democracy fosters human development and mental health among persons who are normally left out of the decision-making processes that affect their lives as it enhances their capacity for personal and collective empowerment and self-group determination; [4] Democracy reflects a higher, more complex, and healthier psychological disposition via Kohlberg and Gilligan's theories of moral development than do societal and organizational practices that foster conventional and preconvention psychological processes.

In short, I would assert that democracy - when promoted in its genuine forms - leads to the realization of higher and more complex levels of human development and a greater level of mental health among larger numbers of persons from diverse backgrounds.

Fundamentally speaking, democracy - as a mental health construct involves what Huey Newton and other members of the Black Party asserted in the 1960s - "all the power to the people." This means working to create and implement new forms of governance at all levels of society - from the family to our schools - to our workplaces - to our neighborhood organizations - to APA and ACA to the Congress and Executive Branch of our government.

While making strides in this direction, APA and ACA continue to fundamentally fail to realize democratic principles when these professional organizations do not direct time and energy into promoting grassroot participation, input, and involvement in decision- making policies and practices that affect our professional lives.

We have the technology to increase discussions about all of the policies that APA and ACA will implement in the future. The Howard Dean campaign and the Moveon.org website represent important advancements in our thinking about organizational democracy that can be useful in democratizing large organizational like ACA and APA by actively involving greater numbers of persons at the grassroot level for discussion and power-sharing in policy formation.

For our own group, this includes stimulating discussions about how strategies for the implementation of the APA multicultural guidelines and ACA advocacy/multicultural competencies should unfold. It also includes working towards supporting a greater level of input into these important policy-making discussions - discussions that need to go beyond established organzaitional practices and traditions that are antiquated in the sense that they do not promote the input and energy of larger numbers of persons that the grassroot level of our organizations into the formation of policies that directly impact our professional lives and practices.

What I am advocating is a a threefold action plan in which we support : [1] discussions about the linkages that exist between democracy, human development, and mental health; [2] out-of the box thinking that leads to an increased democratization of ACA and APA in ways that complement the fundamental principles of the multicultural- feminist-social movement in our profession; [3] discussions about ways that the NIMC can lobby for the implementation of new democratic decision-making processes that involve all persons in the fields of psychology and counseling including students in graduate training programs by using technological resources to give a voice to larger numbers of persons at the grassroots level as we advocate for specific policy changes in our professional organizations.

In evoking the memory of all those persons who helped to promote the best of the human spirit by working to realize the truest meaning of democracy, love, equality, and peace...I would conclude by asking you to consider the linkages that may exist between notions of human development, mental health, and the increased democratization of society in general and our professional organizations in particular...

to consider and talk about our responsibility to discuss and implement a greater level of democracy in our professional and personal lives so that we can build a world that more truly reflects "all the power to the people..." organizations that are more truly "by the people, of the people, and for the people..."

and to promote the development of new organizational and societal structures and institutions whose energy and purpose is grounded in actions that reflect what Lani Gunier pointed out is a higher belief in and value for the developmental potential of realizing a greater level of democracy in our society and professional organizations.

In the continuing struggle for justice and peace,

Michael D'Andrea