Affording Democracy - All We have Left

This is the last post in the "Affording Democracy" series, but it's likely the most important. One of the most pivotal moments in our history was when we stopped saying "we as Canadians" and began saying "They the government." It fails to serve the public interest and leaves citizens and their representatives separated and dysfunctional. The subject of political failure at the political level has been a common theme in these blogs and is no secret. But for democracy to truly function, individuals have to become citizens - an increasingly rare breed these days. We are rapidly morphing into a collection of individuals but not a people. We have little connection or relationship to one another. We don't deliberate much. Unless we become attentive citizens capable of giving clear direction to governments, we become little more than consumers of public services. From the political side, a government that isn't receiving adequate direction from its citizens constantly runs the risk of losing legitimacy.Put simply, if a population becomes merely a rag-tag collection of diverse interests, and of factions and special advocates expressing those interests, then there is little chance of finding or securing the public will. While we can blame the flaws of politicians and political systems all we want, until we develop the capacity to communicate our interests with one another as citizens and finding common ground, no government in the world can possibly keep its populace content. We require a more conscientious type of citizenry, one that emphasizes the quality of public conversation and opportunities to talk and think together. If we can't accomplish that, our times will be spent on blaming "they the government" repeatedly, when the reality is that governments experience great difficulty in satisfying all the individual needs of Canadians.Consider these two charts. The first is the latest EKOS poll that just emerged that shows party support numbers. In what has become normal in Canada, the ruling party (Conservative) has tumbled back down to its traditional level of just a few points ahead of their main opposition (Liberals). The other parties, not shown in the chart, remain relatively stable. While media and political types fulminate over these numbers, attempting to discern the entrails of these repeated polls, commiserating on whether it means an election or not, the public barely takes note. The second graph is the one that really matters. It doesn't take a random sampling of the population every few weeks looking for clues but is, in fact, a evidence-based chart from Elections Canada that shows the voter turnout over the years. This is the chart that really matters. Even if a party was able to get into majority territory, it wouldn't change the present reality that only some 15% of the population is interested. If that party was to win a majority government, it would rule over a people who distrusts them and who would feel just as disconnected from their government as ever.This forms the major and most distinct threat to democracy. If a people can't forge themselves into an effective citizenry that sees government as a mere extension of themselves, then we can't afford a democracy - it's that simple. Regardless of whether we can afford to financially fix our problems, or even if the media undertakes a responsible job at holding citizen and government alike to account, if public participation in the political process continues to decline, we all lose. Canada doesn't, in the end, run on money or natural resources. Citizens are its main currency, as in any legitimate democracy, and if they are devalued we have a human economy on the verge of bankruptcy. As Hubert Humphrey once said: "The citizenship gap between a people and their government ... is a greater threat to our government and our social structure than any external threat by far."Nothing can improve as long as any government insults its people by keeping information from them, by censoring their activists, or by running roughshod over the public will. We are living in these kind of days. The media have begun to rise to the challenge because its own future depends on access to information. No, everything depends on the citizenry. If they refuse to pay attention or continue to picture government as separate from themselves, then we can't pay for the democracy we have. We will be publicly broke. Our lack of interest and deliberation have assisted in bringing us to this point. Forget the first chart; it's the second that matters. In fact, it's all we have left.