International day of Democracy.

The basic meaning of democracy is “rule by the people.” As a result, policy actors (especially those in national governments who heretofore have been tempted to assert that they know what the people want) must give serious consideration to popular values, attitudes, preferences and behaviors. In short, policy actors need to attend to public opinion. In sum, the challenge is the simultaneous attainment of both democracy and governance, preferably by discovering the synergies between them.