AcknowledgmentsIntroduction. Democracy: What Happens In Our Self?Chapter 1. The Power-Holder: The Appeal of Absolute ControlChapter 2. The Truth-Holder: In The Trenches of Impenetrable RighteousnessChapter 3. Inner Democracy and Political IntoleranceChapter 4. The Mind-Expanding Potential of Opposing and Contradictory PositionsChapter 5. Inner Democracy As Multi-Voiced and DialogicalChapter 6. Between The Imprisoned Self and Free ParticipationChapter 7. Stimulating and Impeding Factors For Inner DemocracyEpilogue. Inner Democracy In A Future of AlgorithmsReferences

"Inner Democracy: Empowering the Mind against a Polarizing Society investigates the psychological backgrounds of contemporary societal problems such as hate speech, authoritarianism, and divisive forms of identity politics. As a response to these phenomena, this book presents the basic premise is that a democratic society needs citizens who do more than just express their preference for free elections, freedom of speech, and respect of constitutional rights. Democracy is vital only if it is rooted in the hearts and minds of its participants who are willing to plant it in the fertile soil of their own self. In the field of tension created by societal power clashes and absolute truth pretensions, the book investigates how opposition, cooperation and participation work as innovative forces in a democratic self"--