The Democratic Citizen, Political Plasticity and National Development: A Psychological Perspective

The global context in which national development is taking place has changed in important ways, including widening and entrenched inequalities, deglobalisation, weakened democracies, more aggressive dictatorships and the rise of authoritarian strongmen in many countries. Within this changed context, we examine the central role of the democratic citizen and political plasticity in national development. Our arguments are supported by reference to empirical psychological studies, as well as applied challenges in national development. We identify the 10 most important psychological characteristics of the democratic citizen. Achieving these characteristics requires change, which we discuss through the concept of political plasticity, how fast, in what ways, and how much political behaviour can (and cannot) be changed. We point out that in some domains political plasticity is very low and changes extremely slowly. We identify a narrative approach as the best path for nurturing democratic citizens, building on the narrative story-telling tradition that is already indigenous to many non-Western societies. The incorporation of a narrative tradition to strengthen democratic citizenship does not require expensive technology or other material resources.