dropped precipitously and people seem quite cynical about the means and motives
of politicians. The gap between leaders and citizens seems substantially
greater than before. In fact, Barber points out the irony that while democracy
needs both strong leadership and vigorous citizenship, strengthened leadership,
especially when it is associated with the manifest exercise of power,
may in fact undermine a more active, participatory citizenship (1998).
Active citizenship may also be discouraged by the professionalization of
government and its increasing dependence on “experts.” As expert advice is
increasingly heralded as essential to solving the problems faced by modern
government, the opinions of ordinary citizens are largely devalued. Under
these circumstances, officials and administrators may be inclined to disregard
views they dismiss as lacking clarity and sophistication. Indeed, having to
listen to such views becomes an “annoyance” interfering with the resolution
of the technical problems that experts are trained to solve. Moreover,
ordinary citizens may themselves become overwhelmed by the intricacies
of problems and feel they have nothing to contribute—even though their
“common sense” may be extremely valuable.
Finally, the sheer complexity of today’s society makes civic involvement
difficult. The pressures of making a living, raising children, and meeting all
the other demands of modern life mean that many people simply feel they
don’t have enough energy for politics. Involvement in the public sphere takes
time, and many people simply don’t feel they can devote the time necessary
to make democracy work.
Building Citizen Involvement
There are a number of reasons we might hope for high levels of public participation
in a democratic society. The first reason is our belief that through
active participation we can most likely achieve the best political outcomes,
outcomes that reflect the broad judgments of the people as a whole or the
considered judgments of specific groups and are consistent with the norms of
democracy. Second, through participation, we might fulfill what Thompson
calls the democratic objective, “attaining rules and decisions which satisfy the
interests of the greatest number of citizens” (Thompson 1970, 184). Through
widespread public participation in civic affairs, citizens can help assure that
the individual and collective interests are being heard and responded to by
governmental officials. Moreover, they can prevent rulers from violating the
interests of citizens. Third, democratic participation enhances the legitimacy
of government. People who are involved in decision making are more likely
to support those decisions and the institutions involved in making and carrying
out those decisions.