"Since the days of Greece and Rome, when the word 'citizen' was a title of honor, we have often seen more emphasis put on the rights of citizenship than on its responsibilities." Robert Kennedy
The United States of America is now a country deeply divided. A recent Frontline documentary referred to us as The Divided States of America. Trust in our government institutions, including trust in the Supreme Court is at an all-time low. Cynicism about our political system and how it works, or doesn’t, is growing. This is a dangerous for us and our country; cynicism often leads to apathy. And as Montesquieu warned: “The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.”
Well, what can be done about this?
To begin with, we must develop a clearer understanding of our responsibilities as citizens in a democracy. Many of us focus on our rights as citizens and consider our responsibilities as simply having to vote. The demagogue in George Bernard Shaw’s The Apple Cart describes how this minimalist approach to our duties as citizens leaves us open to manipulation. “I talk democracy to these men and women. I tell them that they have the vote, and theirs is the kingdom and the power and the glory. They say ‘that’s right tell us what to do’; and I say ‘Vote for me.’”
If the majority of our citizens continue to define their civic responsibility as merely the obligation to vote, our democracy will continue to be as dysfunctional as it currently is. Guardian of Democracy, a report published by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, defines our civic responsibility this way: ‘Self-government requires far more than voting in elections every four years. It requires citizens who are informed and thoughtful, participate in their communities, are involved in the political process, and possess moral and civic virtues.” Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared that: “Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.”
A critical part of being an informed and thoughtful citizen is not only being aware of how our government is supposed to function but knowing how it is actually functioning and what must be done if it stops functioning or functions poorly. This video , It's Time to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans, featuring former Congressman Mickey Edwards, clearly outlines how dysfunctional our government currently is and identifies some of the things we must do to fix it.
Finally, as a retired educator, I think that it is particularly important for all educators to educate students with the new perspective on civics that I have been describing here. If we are to revive and renew our democracy, student understanding of the way our democracy is not working now and the steps we must take to get it to work will be critical to that renewal and revival. So as John W. Gardner wrote in On Leadership “If we could produce a large number of elementary and high school children who had been well trained to accept responsibility in group activities (the first step toward leadership); if we could produce substantial numbers of late adolescents who had been helped to understand and experience leadership in their youth organizations, churches, and schools; if we could produce a great many men and women in their early twenties who had not only developed the skills of leadership but also had tested those skills in community activities and political campaigns or in government and industry, then we could ensure a steady flow of mature leaders into all segments and all levels of our society.” (p.162)
We, young and old alike, need to reeducate ourselves about civics and make a new commitment to our responsibility as civic minded citizens; we can no longer expect to remain ignorant, uninvolved and free.
Additional Resources
http://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/11/16/democracy-for-an-age-of-distrust/
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/16/12/11612.pdf