help find meaning of "am Bewußtsein der Menschen vorbei"

[edmont]

"Selbstverwaltung läßt sich nicht am Bewußtsein der Menschen vorbei realisieren."

In English, would this be:

1) Self-government cannot be realized while ignoring human awareness.

2) Self-government cannot be realized without human awareness.


Or?

Thank you very much for any assistance.

[Keswick]

I'd tend to go with the first sentence, however I suppose it depends heavily on the context. Depending on the context both translations seem possible.

[tiorthan]

I would suggest "people's awareness" or "public awareness" instead of "human awareness". Menschen doesn't mean humans in general here but rather specifically the people affected by the Selbstverwaltung.

[edmont]

tiorthan and Keswick, your answers are helpful. Thank you both.