This inspired meditative exploration of democracy examines and distinguishes the concept of the citizen in various roles, providing an insightful mission to all who read this call to action and political participation. In this concise volume, Ralph Nader, our trusted voice for corporate power and political resistance, goes straight to the fundamental roots of an emerging democracy: its people and their roles in creating and maintaining community.

These roles, including that of the citizen, voter, worker, taxpayer, consumer, and parent, contribute to political self-esteem and the importance of each individual in society. As Federal Judge Learned Hand said in 1944 during a famous brief speech in Central Park, New York, neither laws, nor courts, nor other relevant institutions can be saved without the supportive exercise of the democratic spirit by the people.

The book "On a Living Democracy" emphasizes the importance of recognizing the centrality in developing a political personality, distinguished from a private personality, with both coexisting for an ethical life that participates in the common good. As Nader’s mother said when friends wondered how she could raise four children and still have time for community activities: "What’s the difference? One depends on the other – family and community."

This book advocates how important it is for our educational system to teach the fundamentals of political responsibility beyond professional or technical focus, because the emergence of a public personality is so essential for understanding the world and shaping cultured societies.