Citizenship - "Power With, Not Power Over"

We may not have realized it, but this week witnessed a powerful symbolic act that in many ways showed how public citizens have begun to effectively infiltrate the political space. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was unveiled in Washington D.C., in a place of prominence between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. I have been drawn to this Mall for years, always coming away inspired by the grandeur and lessons in responsible leadership. It will be different next time, however, for this is not only the first memorial built on the Washington Mall in honour of an Afro-American; it is the first time one will have been constructed to honour a citizen, not a president. It is a sign of the changing of the times and speaks to how the political establishment is beginning to open the door for the recognition of citizen accomplishment.Yet it didn’t just happen because some politicians opted to make it so. As far back as 1984, citizens George Sealey, Alfred Bailey, Oscar Little, Eddie Madison and John Harvey, recalling that King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech occurred on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, suggested a national memorial in honour of the esteemed civil rights leader. Bill Clinton started the political approval process in 1996 and King’s wife Coretta was appointed as chair of the foundation committee. The thousands and thousands of letters of support that came from average citizens provided the moral clarity and insight to approve the project in the nation’s most esteemed public space.We have had similar occurrences in Canada. My time in Parliament often found me walking on the Hill between the Lester Pearson statue and that of the Famous Five – women who successfully fought for women’s rights in this country, including the right to vote. Among all the statues of political leaders stand these five Canadians – citizens among the political elite that successfully shook up a political order in order to gain recognition for average citizens.Essentially, citizens have said to their governments that citizen politics respects the realities of political power while at the same time doesn't accept the standard definitions of it. They comprehend that political power is really a one-way flow, from those who have it to those who don’t. And they can also tolerate that those holding this kind of authority often build statues of the most famous among them. Yet citizens are embracing a new understanding that there are various kinds of political power, not just the top-down variety. To them power flows in more than one direction, and even those with little sway at all can have an accountable effect on those who have traditionally occupied the political space.Standard political power is a finite resource - only so many seats in parliament, one mayor, only so many school board trustees. Citizen power is not only a renewable resource but an expanding one. The more citizens that engage, the more their acquired power flows outward. The kind of authority given to us by someone else can never be sufficient to empower communities or a country.A gathered group of citizens have numerous kinds of power – a good idea, experience, commitment, the power of group dynamics, to name a few. The aggregate power that flows from a group of dedicated citizens can be both spontaneous and stabilizing. In addition it is generic, home-grown and not portioned out by some distant political capital.Think of the difference. Political power is limited; one person is inevitably replaced by another. Citizen power, however, can grow without anyone losing his or her role in it all. Ideas generate new ideas, dynamic citizen groups can add to their number exponentially as circumstances require, and venues can expand easily as required.We would be remiss if we didn’t consider the nature of moral power. In a democracy, legitimate authority doesn’t come from political representatives but the people who elect them. The moment government begins making decisions on their own on important issues confronting the country, they violate the boundary of legitimacy. Since the moral right to govern comes from citizens, then why do we let it pass from us so easily? We are its source; we can be its guardians. Teachers have authority to teach our children, but not exclusively – parents are vital to the entire educational process. Investment managers have power to oversee our financial future, but the resources are ours and are best-managed when we remain part of the process. Why should politics be any different? Who said that we give it all up on the day that we vote? We too often do, but that’s not the way democracy best functions. We must guard our common future, protect it from dissipation from both without and within.Citizen politics has the moral authority to enter the political space and play a partnership role, but it also retains the ability to work cooperatively and solve common problems without the rank partisanship that effectively hinders professional politics today. The essence of it all is that citizen power isn’t about power “over” but power “with.” It is not an alternative to democracy; it is democracy in its very essence.