In an era of accelerating political dysfunction and institutional erosion, democracy is increasingly reduced to a hollow form — maintaining the appearance of legitimacy while serving narrow private interests. This white paper critically examines the concept of “demockracy,” as coined by Johan Galtung, to describe the performative facade of democratic governance that conceals deep structural incoherence. Through analysis of economic capture, information distortion, and civic exclusion, we expose the systemic degradation of political representation. Drawing upon life-value ethics, participatory models, and regenerative design principles, we propose a comprehensive reorientation of governance — from adversarial to coherent, from extractive to life-serving. The paper argues for a transition to regenerative democracy grounded in ethical coherence, symbolic literacy, civic imagination, and institutional responsiveness. This is not merely a political reform agenda but a call for civilizational renewal — a return to governance as care, and to democracy as a living system animated by the common good.
