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The
Citizen
Dorin
Tudoran
Extracted from Democracy at Large: Vol 1 No. 4 – 2005
September 2005
It is said that
there are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those
who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. When
it comes to the consolidation of a democratic citizenry, one cannot
count on the last two groups. Only the members of the first group
can make difference and move themselves from the status of an inhabitant
- a simple subject or number in a census - to that of a citizen.
To some, participatory
democracy is a pleonasm because they believe that democracy automatically
implies participation. Not so. The difference between a participatory
democracy and a passive/reluctant one are substantial. The bottom
line is that the fabric of a democracy is determined by the quality
of participation.
Participation
divides. This is why, if taking a non-traditional look at the map
of the Earth, instead of mountains, rivers or deserts, one sees
countries of citizens and countries of inhabitants. Then there is
the denizen. A denizen is described as "an inhabitant, a resident
or a ‘habitue’ - a person who regularly frequents a place"
or "an alien admitted to residence and to certain rights of
citizenship in an country." So, participation has several levels.
Disenfranchisement by weak democratic environments and self-disenfranchisement
by lack of interest in being a responsible citizen are the main
causes for what political scientists call "democraduras"
and even "dictablandas" - mild dictatorships.
What about a
genuine dictatorship? Consider the nightmare of being called a citizen
during completely undemocratic times. From "Citizen Robespierre!"
to "Citizen Tukachevsky!" such an appellative usually
meant nothing less than the death penalty. For this reason, there
are very few nobler undertakings than restoring the dignity of this
title and making it paramount to any democratic structure.
To participate
in a democracy, you don’t need to be "somebody." As Louis
D. Brandeis put it, "the most important political office is
that of the private citizen." However, not taking such an office
seriously can lead to disaster and, perhaps - most unconscionable
- moral demise. It is no wonder that, thinking about the weaknesses
of today’s citizens, a social conscience like Vaclav Havel wrote,
"The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less
about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less
and less."
One bumper sticker
reads: "Do you find education expensive? Try ignorance."
Strikingly true. So many tragic experiences of humanity should finally
teach us that the price of dormant citizenry has become too high
and the costs of civic illiteracy are already unbearable. To see
this planet a safer, happier and more peaceful place, the paradigm
of the 21st century must be The Citizen.
*Dorin Tudoran
is Editor-in-Chief for Democracy at Large
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