distinguish between his own impulses and desires, he learns to be a public
as well as a private citizen” (Pateman 1970, 25). As individuals engage in
participation, they begin to learn and develop the skills appropriate to the
process of participation, so that the process becomes self-sustaining. That
is, the more the individual participates, the better he or she is able to do so.
The classical or ideal theory of democratic citizenship, then, has an ambitious
agenda—“the education of an entire people to the point where their
intellectual, emotional, and moral capacities have reached their full potential
and they are joined, freely and actively in a genuine community” (Davis,
quoted in Pateman 1970, 21).
The educative argument is, of course, based on a faith in the “improvability”
of the ordinary citizen. If there are problems with the involvement of citizens,
if their participation doesn’t bring about political improvements as well as
heightened legitimacy, then the response is not to end participation, but to
further educate the citizenry. Thomas Jefferson was clear on this point: “I
know of no safe depository of the ultimate power of the society but the people
themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their
control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them,
but to inform their discretion” (Jefferson 1903, 278). If there are problems
encountered in a participatory society, the answer is not to limit participation
(the Madisonian response) but rather to further educate and to inform.
Public Service as an Extension of Citizenship
Clearly the idea of civic virtue, at least in the democratic ideal, incorporates
the notion of service to the public. For this reason, discussion of democratic
theory must attend to the roles and responsibilities or the duties and
obligations of citizenship. A part of that discussion of particular relevance
to our argument here is related to the idea of service to the community or
nation. The virtuous citizen obviously is a citizen engaged in the work of
the community, but the virtuous citizen also has a duty or responsibility to
serve others. The idea of democratic citizenship has, since the earliest times,
implied a certain duty or obligation on the part of the citizen to contribute to
the betterment of the community. Many will recognize the Athenian Oath,
from ancient Greece:
We will never bring disgrace on this our City by any act of dishonesty or
cowardice.
We will fight for the ideals and Sacred Things of the City both alone and
with many.