Constructivism and democracy

"Education agencies, therefore, must create environments where students can interact and learn to participate in a democracy, not schools where control is the dominant theme(Sehr, 1996)." taken from http://cie.asu.edu/volume9/number5/index.html
Teaching is evolving and it is exciting to be part of a more student centered movement in American education. I am interested in how teaching constructivist lessons can encourage students in participating in a democratic society. Constructivist teaching is all about according to wikipedia, " values developmentally-appropriate facilitator-supported learning that is initiated and directed by the learner. This is the path through which educators (facilitators) wish to approach students in constructing meaning of new concepts." Basically, this means that unless the student finds meaning in the topic or lesson, and if the teacher can allow the student the freedom to create their own meaning, then students will be life-long learners and engage in the material during class. An article I read mentioned that constructivist lessons takes away behavioral problems because the students are constantly engaged in meaningful activities. This is how it can connect to democratic values. In order for a student to find their own meaning and direct their own learning, a dialogue must take place between the student and the teacher. To get what the student wants, a democratic process has to take place between the teacher and student. This is valuable for a Social Studies Teacher because demonstrating the democratic process in a constructivist way will better communicate these values then any lesson.