The New State
Mary Parker Follett argues that ballot-box democracy, which treats citizens as isolated individuals casting separate votes, has run out of usefulness. Real self-government, she contends, grows from the small neighborhood group, where people meet face to face, work through their differences, and form a genuine collective will rather than a bare majority count. Drawing on psychology, political theory, and her own experience in Boston community centers, she sketches a group principle in which conflict becomes creative and individuals find themselves through association rather than in opposition to the state. The 1918 book shaped later thinking in political science and management alike, and Follett’s ideas on integration and shared power still circulate. Available as a free PDF and EPUB edition.
