"In his article that we are presenting in Russian translation, J.J.Stuhr, a US scholar, analyzes the essence and meaning of democracy, as well as the challenges it faces nowadays. In the first part published in this issue, the author, by way of developing the ideas of J.Dewey, a well-known American philosopher, substantiates broad interpretation of democracy, discussing not so much its capacity as a form of government, as its meaning as a way of life. Following Dewey, he points out that democratic government is but a means to realize democratic purposes in the life of individuals and in social relations, and it is therefore not of absolute, but of instrumental value. Hence his conclusion to inadmissibility of blindly imitating once efficient institutions and practices which, as he stresses, are to be each time estimated anew, in preparedness to tackle, if necessary, their reorganization. Furthermore, the author notes that democracy as a way of life is an ethical concept, an ideal