What Democracy Requires
Frank Capra directed a 1941 film about Mr. Willoughby, a man who believed that his life had been ruined by the Great Depression. Tricked by an unscrupulous newswoman into impersonating John Doe, a fictional character who threatened suicide to protest society’s ills, Willoughby, ashamed of this sham and horrified to lose another job himself threatens to jump from the Empire State Building. Upon reading Willoughby’s plight people around the country responded in remarkable ways, forging an unanticipated grassroots political movement. Strengthening their formerly torn bonds, neighbors started helping one another. This film illustrates democracy’s strengths and its fragility.
America was founded as an experiment in democracy: our Founding Fathers were concerned that their new country provide for its people pathways to have a persuasive voice in governance. Having been ruled by England’s system of hereditary peerage, this new land allowed them to craft a government with the potential to be equitable. They defined democracy as a system in which formal political power is equally shared by all of society’s members. This experiment has been imperfect, taking overlong to understand the definition of “all”, failing to embody Lincoln’s admonition that “…no man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent”. Despite our misconceptions of fairness, democracy’s laudable goals give voice to our personal, national, international and systemic concerns. These possibilities for voice embolden our citizenry and draw people to American shores.
While American democracy uniquely represents a founding form of government, the institution itself is credited to Athens circa 508 B.C., though evidence exists of 5th century tribal democracies. Quite possibly these early democracies experienced difficulties similar to ours: unfairness in democracy’s execution and, increasingly, complacency. Even when our systems are broken, their vast size and intricacy hides inefficiencies for generations. Because democracy takes considerable work, we often don’t speak up as we should. With wars in two destabilized countries, terrorist threats, corporate greed and the worst economic situation since 1931, we can no longer let democracy’s engine erect structures on our silence. Barack Obama’s special genius has been to move us from complacency to vigorous voice. He has consistently intoned that he can only govern with our help, providing public forums and electronic methods to enroll voters, campaign, and forward our ideas to his transition team. As he is the right person for this historical time, we are becoming a renewed people, hopefully encouraged that our democratic participation is truly meaningful.
Obama’s election represents America’s acknowledgement that real democracy is finally possible for many previously disenfranchised groups – people of African descent, women, immigrant citizens, political and social outsiders and people whose ideas challenge the status quo. Obama’s presidency has likewise excited global imaginations who can now fill the gap between their dreams and their potential.
To maintain this new vision of democracy, what is required of us? Democracy is an opportunity to reevaluate who we are and to determine how best to use our gifts and talents in service to our nation. Democracy further requires that we become a nation of good-hearted John Does, helping one another, healing through the process, and understanding that sustained progress only occurs when we care more about outcomes than taking credit for our contributions.
Written for Urban Life Northwest Magazine