Voting is the tip of democratic association. All the rest lies below the surface.
The kernel of democracy consists of association for the good of the whole. That association must necessarily be an active one to be most effective; for in a democratic association the members have their say in decisions made and policies followed. We cannot grow a democracy without attention to these requirements. Inattention leads to all the fractures that prevent, delay or ruin democracy’s promise to flower and bear much fruit.
Though evolutionary, democracy is never automatic and must be won and kept by endeavor. Democracy has its philosophy or principles but rises effectively from practice and by practice thereby expands. The democratic principles that we inherited from England had one beginning in the Magna Carta of 1215. By 1776, when we declared our independence, the franchise for voting was as restricted and without equal representation in the burgeoning states as it was in mother Britain, 3% of the population. Our national wrangles, lasting decades, had first to resolve before black men could vote by virtue of constitutional Amendment XIV (1868) and then women’s suffrage by Amendment XIX (1920). Not until Amendment XXIV (1964) did we eliminate the scourge of poll taxes. In 1971, eighteen-year olds obtained the right to vote by Amendment XXVI.
The struggle for as full a democracy as we can give ourselves has relied in great measure on those who already have the vote then granting the same participation to others. Expansions of the franchise came about, as shown above, but usually with great reluctance amidst strenuous argument, alarming protest and dreadful repression. Read of our climb in Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States; see the docudrama Iron Jawed Angels.
Our history lesson for today and every day is the recognition that democracy can be nothing less that the shared, participatory experience of its citizens. We may well congratulate ourselves over the recent election thanks to the efforts to turn out the vote and vote in welcome numbers. But voting is not the cause of democracy. It is the result. Much more needs to be done to be fully democratic; much more is expected.
We must regard others as well as we regard ourselves. We must put aside our prejudices and accept that to be human is to have rights. We must see that liberty is the quality that sets free our being, not just safeguards our privileges and pocketbooks.
We must shoulder our responsibilities. Democracy, especially a representative democracy such as ours, calls us to be learners so that we may be knowledgeable to be equipped for apt decision-making. Learning means examination of our own ignorance and questioning of our own preconceptions. It means the work of study and the devotion of time to study. Prior to voting, we need a firm grasp of the duties of the office and criteria as to how candidates will be able to fulfill that office. We need to share our learning and views with others so that we do not fool ourselves by always seeking those who agree with us when together we could be wrong.
And we should find time to work for democracy. Advance worthy candidates. Take a turn in office. Contribute to causes. Promote the rights of others who do not yet share as equally as we do.
Democracy can move onward, but it takes more than a super-majority.
This article is revised from one published earlier on Helium.com.
© 2008, 2009 by Roger Sween.
Showing posts with label Common good. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Common good. Show all posts
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Accord
Lessons Learned from Election 2008
Updated 9 July 2014
What is politics but the shared process of conducting our lives together. By politics, we seek, reach or accept agreement. Of course, politics is often a struggle since we do not always agree so agreeably. However, we do relish in our finest hours those conclusive moments as in a presidential election when after lengthy struggle, we acknowledge the outcome we collectively reached. Accord rejoices in the practicality of peaceful and productive transition; otherwise, we would bloodily clobber one another in the streets.
On the 2008 election night recently past, the excellence of John McCain’s concession struck us as did Barack Obama’s victory speech. Both contenders for the presidency articulated the same fundamental values that we share as a people. Upon their words, we become suddenly refreshed because our candidates conversed and quickly shared their conversation. Though they spent sixty days in arguing their differences, now they reciprocate in praising one another. These all too infrequent occasions of public declaration are far more significant than mere, stale convention. They reiterate the bedrock of our common political existence: despite the divisiveness of partisanship, we as a people have reached a decision, this time a clear one.
The decision is a historic one, McCain acknowledges; a defining moment, says Obama. We are a country of opportunities where all things are possible. We have needed to right injustices, but have made great strides; America can change. Times are difficult with enormous challenges ahead. We are all Americans regardless of our diversity; we must and can come together. The USA inspires patriotism, and we can resist the partisanship of the past. We never quit: we can do what we must; yes, we can. As a nation among the nations of the world, our greatness shines out to others because of the enduring power of our ideals.
And in a capstone and conclusion, McCain and Obama call upon God to bless us as a people and nation.
Would it not have been better to reach this fundament of accord at the start instead of the end of so protracted a campaign? Why did we behave as if “campaign” meant real armed skirmishes and forced battle? Why is it that so great an accord on the fundamentals of our political existence stays bottled within us until finally, in the desperation of no other alternative, we see our differences as minor to necessary unity? Why do we spend so much time in division and angry discord? A common explanation is that politics is rough and tumble, yet only if we make it so. Are we not, for the most part, adults, who need not wrangle as we often see feisty children do? Can we not learn the lessons that ought to come with maturity?
We have observed the readiness of some partisans to boo even the harmony expressed by their own champion. Alice Walker in her “Open Letter to Barack Obama,” November 5, 2008, rightly attributes to our fear, humiliation and pain the damage that we do to one another. She wisely says, “learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise.”
Let us work and become our better selves, acting upon the concord expressed in the wondrous words of our leaders and turn them into reality. How different we may become in our polity!
We closely read the U.S. Constitution and our state’s constitution. We read them at least annually to remind ourselves of who we are. We see our place in energizing these old yet living documents. Alongside the executive President, the legislative Congress, and the judicial Supreme Court, we are the fourth branch in our systems of shared power and responsibility. We are in the thick of government, not apart from it. We as a people set into operation the other branches’ functions and can shape their actions.
We see that government, especially in our rights extolled, is a matter of mutual respect and service. We serve, and in turn, others serve us. The breadth of politics, beyond the limits of mere voting, awakens our thoughts and actions. We want candidates whom we choose on the bases of their ability and principles. We set criteria for those we elect and study candidates to make the best possible choices. We share our study with others in neighborly conversation. We monitor our representatives as they define, address and solve problems on our behalf. We communicate critically with those in office so that they know our expectations and they relate to us what is possible for the whole body politic.
The communications media become our true ally. They exercise their extraordinary press freedoms with as much honesty, objectivity and resourcefulness as they can muster. They provide pertinent evidence and deeper analysis that challenges our thinking and enlarges our knowledge. We cannot live without a daily dosage of meaty reporting and features and the significant issues of the times, current and ensuing. We test our quest for knowing deeply and acting rightly against what both challenges and deepens our understanding. We change and shape our minds with reason.
Ultimately, we realize that we are one people, whom neither a distant government nor intrusive government can save. Instead, we discover the common ground that best serves us all and allows us each to fulfill our potential. Civility has become our mantra as well as our practice. We savor and extend our own abilities; we appreciate the benefits of others’ abilities. We are giving and grateful in receiving.
We become puzzled how life could have been any different in those days before we put a knowing accord foremost in our lives.
____
This article is a revision of one first appearing on Helium. com. I remain indebted in origin for many of my ideas to Aristotle’s Politics, especially the early sections of Book III on citizenship.
Contemporary texts used are widely available on the Internet. See McCain’s concession speech, Obama’s victory speech, and Walker’s open letter to Obama in The Root.
© 2008, 2009 by Roger Sween.
Updated 9 July 2014
What is politics but the shared process of conducting our lives together. By politics, we seek, reach or accept agreement. Of course, politics is often a struggle since we do not always agree so agreeably. However, we do relish in our finest hours those conclusive moments as in a presidential election when after lengthy struggle, we acknowledge the outcome we collectively reached. Accord rejoices in the practicality of peaceful and productive transition; otherwise, we would bloodily clobber one another in the streets.
On the 2008 election night recently past, the excellence of John McCain’s concession struck us as did Barack Obama’s victory speech. Both contenders for the presidency articulated the same fundamental values that we share as a people. Upon their words, we become suddenly refreshed because our candidates conversed and quickly shared their conversation. Though they spent sixty days in arguing their differences, now they reciprocate in praising one another. These all too infrequent occasions of public declaration are far more significant than mere, stale convention. They reiterate the bedrock of our common political existence: despite the divisiveness of partisanship, we as a people have reached a decision, this time a clear one.
The decision is a historic one, McCain acknowledges; a defining moment, says Obama. We are a country of opportunities where all things are possible. We have needed to right injustices, but have made great strides; America can change. Times are difficult with enormous challenges ahead. We are all Americans regardless of our diversity; we must and can come together. The USA inspires patriotism, and we can resist the partisanship of the past. We never quit: we can do what we must; yes, we can. As a nation among the nations of the world, our greatness shines out to others because of the enduring power of our ideals.
And in a capstone and conclusion, McCain and Obama call upon God to bless us as a people and nation.
Would it not have been better to reach this fundament of accord at the start instead of the end of so protracted a campaign? Why did we behave as if “campaign” meant real armed skirmishes and forced battle? Why is it that so great an accord on the fundamentals of our political existence stays bottled within us until finally, in the desperation of no other alternative, we see our differences as minor to necessary unity? Why do we spend so much time in division and angry discord? A common explanation is that politics is rough and tumble, yet only if we make it so. Are we not, for the most part, adults, who need not wrangle as we often see feisty children do? Can we not learn the lessons that ought to come with maturity?
We have observed the readiness of some partisans to boo even the harmony expressed by their own champion. Alice Walker in her “Open Letter to Barack Obama,” November 5, 2008, rightly attributes to our fear, humiliation and pain the damage that we do to one another. She wisely says, “learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise.”
Let us work and become our better selves, acting upon the concord expressed in the wondrous words of our leaders and turn them into reality. How different we may become in our polity!
We closely read the U.S. Constitution and our state’s constitution. We read them at least annually to remind ourselves of who we are. We see our place in energizing these old yet living documents. Alongside the executive President, the legislative Congress, and the judicial Supreme Court, we are the fourth branch in our systems of shared power and responsibility. We are in the thick of government, not apart from it. We as a people set into operation the other branches’ functions and can shape their actions.
We see that government, especially in our rights extolled, is a matter of mutual respect and service. We serve, and in turn, others serve us. The breadth of politics, beyond the limits of mere voting, awakens our thoughts and actions. We want candidates whom we choose on the bases of their ability and principles. We set criteria for those we elect and study candidates to make the best possible choices. We share our study with others in neighborly conversation. We monitor our representatives as they define, address and solve problems on our behalf. We communicate critically with those in office so that they know our expectations and they relate to us what is possible for the whole body politic.
The communications media become our true ally. They exercise their extraordinary press freedoms with as much honesty, objectivity and resourcefulness as they can muster. They provide pertinent evidence and deeper analysis that challenges our thinking and enlarges our knowledge. We cannot live without a daily dosage of meaty reporting and features and the significant issues of the times, current and ensuing. We test our quest for knowing deeply and acting rightly against what both challenges and deepens our understanding. We change and shape our minds with reason.
Ultimately, we realize that we are one people, whom neither a distant government nor intrusive government can save. Instead, we discover the common ground that best serves us all and allows us each to fulfill our potential. Civility has become our mantra as well as our practice. We savor and extend our own abilities; we appreciate the benefits of others’ abilities. We are giving and grateful in receiving.
We become puzzled how life could have been any different in those days before we put a knowing accord foremost in our lives.
____
This article is a revision of one first appearing on Helium. com. I remain indebted in origin for many of my ideas to Aristotle’s Politics, especially the early sections of Book III on citizenship.
Contemporary texts used are widely available on the Internet. See McCain’s concession speech, Obama’s victory speech, and Walker’s open letter to Obama in The Root.
© 2008, 2009 by Roger Sween.
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