Governance With RCS: Active Democracy or no Democracy
Doings like active democracy and active citizenship have attracted many. At one time there was no need to use "active" in this context. Democracy and citizenship were known to be activities. Citizenship is the knowledge and skills for using one's duties and rights of governance to govern with one's fellow citizens. Democracy is citizens participate in governing themselves. No participation, no democracy.
We all seem to be pretty much the same page as to the meaning of "active," that is: capable of functioning, causing action or change, participating an like that. Its about doing.
I am not sure that we are on the same pages as to the meaning of democracy and citizenship. You may have an idea of the differences between republicanism and democracy. You probably have the idea that that citizenship is about the doings of a citizen. Rather than speculate about you it may be more useful for me to tell you my meanings and ideas. For example, a base meaning of democracy is, governance by the people. But for me the ideas and meanings of democracy form a long practiced philosophy of freedom, equity, and extended family, but it needs to be remembered that it is a doing. That means that the job of governing is done, in a lively way, by the people.
I feel concern at this moment that after presenting over 60 essays on this website, I have not clarified much of the vocabulary dealing with political self care. I intend to try to put more thought an effort into making the meanings of the vocabulary I use more abundantly clear.
You can ask me to clarify my meanings in the "comments" section below.
"Governance" is a word that I know I have not clarified, perhaps because I am not as clear about its meaning as I hope to be.
I see governance as the activity of a governor. Like the governor of an engine or a motor acts to moderate that motor's speed. So, it is about governing and government. Governance is about the nature of governing and government. For example and individual person can take responsibility for her life, so, she is interested in self-governance. Part of her way of governance maybe to claim responsibility for her own duties and rights. You may be the boss and governor of yourself. Theocracy, autocracy are ways of governance. Okay, it is much like governing, but to me governance is more personal. I am not doing this as well as I hoped I would. Let me give it another try. As a citizen of a democracy or republic I have duties and rights, and the responsibility for claiming them is part of my governance of my nation and of myself. OMG, I hope I can do better at defining the rest of the pertinent vocabulary.
OK. onward. "Citizenship" is the practice of the skills of governance in a state as a citizen of the state. Active citizenship is practicing and using those skills in a lively manner. Citizenship is a legal position having a set of rules and laws agreed on to regulate your behavior. In a democracy you have the duty and right to maintain or to changes those rules and laws. The ways of doing so may be defined by the laws of your land. The rules and laws nor their change or maintenance need be burdensome because you share that job with fellow citizens. However, not claiming your rights and duties can lead to major problems which includes losing them and your citizenship. Your active claim is important. Not claiming ones rights and duties does lead to your loss, to your great loss. You can lose rights, liberty, freedom, citizenship in the state, happiness, state and life. It also leads to similar losses by your family members, friends, and fellow citizens. Of course the loss of your state can lead to the loss of the power of democracy for future generations. When not s very many of us fail to claim our rights and duties as active citizens our state moves toward failure.
In a great many states a citizen is free to lobby another citizen. "Lobby" is not a legal term. In definition it could be the practice of doing what on can to persuade others as might a teacher or preacher. However, it also refers to persuading the citizens of your town to act in a certain way; like rerouting the traffic around your school to prevent your children being struck by a vehicle. I will add that lobbing is much like milk, it can be sweet or sour, or even change its state and become cheesy, So there is honorable lobbying, but it is not always so. Much like modern politics it is often honorable, but it in some cases it is not.
Lobbying can be a sort of encouragement For example, you could try to persuade fellow citizens to co-operate to help each other to practice teaching one another to practice teaching each other about active democracy, active citizenship, organizing, and governance. Trying to get your high school board to to co-operate in opening and adult night school class in active citizenship could be another example of lobbing.
There is among us, a lack of knowledge of politics, and that is not good. Some think "politics" is a bad word and that is not useful. Politics is the practice of governance, governing, and government. It can even refer to the correct practice of co-operation. It can also refer to the less than beautiful activity of a professional politician. Some very correct actions of a politician can seem less than beautiful, and still an honorable act and good for the nation. Politics is a name for the way we co-operate to govern ourselves. Like any job or duty, it can be well done, poorly done, or worse. Check online and in your dictionary for the definitions for "politics" and choose the best that you find and that will come close to the way I usually use that word here.
I would be pleased and proud to be lobbied to be part of a group dedicated to helping one another to learn the nature of doing citizenship, governance, and democracy. I such a group I could learn appropriate practice for being a free and useful citizen of my neighborhood, city, town, county, state, country, and nation. It seems good to take care of our polity together.
As an America, as a citizen of the United States, I would like to learn, with others, about our Constitution and how to use it democratically. Lately I have been thinking about being an effective citizen at the national level. However, it seems very sensible to find out how to use democracy more effectively at the town or county level as well. By showing up at the meetings of the local Green Party, I bet I could learn more about governance at both national and and local level. I believe that attending meetings, near me, with 7 or 11 others, to learn more about our Constitution and how to use it in our republic could be instructive and satisfying. Just practicing democracy in a group may be very useful.
I find myself less interested in parties and candidates these days and more interested in platforms and planks. I find it pleasant to know that most of the 20 or so national parties in the U.S. still have planks and platforms. One can still search for planks that relate to that which one finds most appropriate and important at this point in history. If I were searching through planks right now I would be on the lookout for ones related to citizen education in governance or those which supported citizen participation and education in democratic governance. Tomorrow I may look for planks relating to adapting to climate change.
We can use all the help we can get, but we don't have to have any help. We can teach one another as we please. When we want to we can practice what we learn as we learn. For example, as we taught each other, we could consider how we could best support a bill that interested us all. By doing so we might be able to help our county, state, and country. Wonderful. Or we might decide not to do that until we have learned more and were more sure of our common goals. All helps us with our goals of learning. We could be learning and practicing democratic governance. One day we might be presenting our own bill.
We can learn a lot about our mutual governance and we can help each other to practice that which we learn. I have voted, read the newspapers, listened to the news and watched it on TV. I have participated a political campaigns and attended political meetings. And I still have a very great deal to learn.
Lately I have been learning more about active citizenship and active democracy my myself. I believe that I could learn better and more in a self teaching group of citizens interested, say, in active democracy. I believe that members of such a group can learn more, do more. and find more satisfaction than we can as individuals. Democratic governance is a matter of individuals co-operating, and that process seems best learned in co-operating democratic group.
I sure don't want to do governance until I drop. There are ways of doing enough without doing that which feels like too much. One great thing about democracy is that the more the participation the merrier. The potential for abundant help in democracy is great, there is a place for everyone. There are many active citizens and more learning how they can be active. There is a potential for many, many more active citizens. Among citizens there are many, skills, interests, and abilities. There are also many citizens, old, medium, young, and ancient ready, willing, and able to learn. So, there is little reason that anyone need feel that they have too much to do. It's legal to kick back with a beer in front of the TV. There is room to keep a home, a job, and a whole life and still take care of our own governance. It is great that there are so many of us to do the the jobs and tasks of self-governance(citizenship).
One can avoid the tasks which one likes least and eliminate the tasks that interest one least. Lately I am interested much less in political parties and candidates. I believe that there are many citizens willing to learn more about the doings of parties and candidates and there are plenty of other citizens willing to help them. We could be a bit more organized to provide that help. Still, I do not have to feel guilty about being less active in that area. There are many other areas in which to practice my citizenship. You and I are free to practice our citizenship were we will, and every citizen is free to practice his or her citizenship where they will. It may be useful to remember that we have decided on certain rules for that practice. Its also fair to remember that we may agree to discuss those rules and to change them.
An important activity of citizenship, and of much else, is showing up. There are many opportunities for showing up. Voting and public demonstrations are two of them. Sharing information about important issues is another. Helping a group a group assemble information for a Bill is still another. Yet another is co-operating in the resolution and implementation of a public issue. Suggest some more opportunities to participate in "comments." There are many ways to co-operate to keep your country operating well. It's good to remember that ignorance of the law is seldom a good excuse for your transgression of it.
Some learning often helps to better the quality of the doing of that which needs doing. If you are willing to teach you might do well to learn to teach "How to do citizenship in a democracy."
There is a limited amount that one can or wants to do. Nearly everyone has some ability to co-operate. Find a place you feel you could co-operate and show up. I have heard it said that a way not to "spread yourself too thin" is to think globally and act locally. I am not sure how that works, but it does sound good. Still, it sure does not have to be the way of everyone. It does seem to help to keep your eyes, ears, and mind open to a good place for you to show up and co-operate. Its okay to make a mistake we are practicing. Still, as a surgeon knows in his practice, mistakes can be troublesome.
Showing up with the purpose of understanding seems a good idea. I can do that. I may be slow to learn, but my purpose is good. I can show-up where others are doing active citizenship democratically. Personally I find listening at a school-board meeting more interesting than hanging out at my polling place. Thank goodness that we do not all have the same likes and dislikes. Still, duties exist.
Some find a city council meeting interesting. Finding out where a given councilman likes to spend money available to the council, might keep me listening for two meetings in a row. Political party meetings could be worth showing up at. The right Green Party meeting might show party members getting things done in an interesting way. Listening to those where they are co-operating to do something about an important social issue could interest one so much that one would like to do more than listen.
Listening does not interest many forever, but it is often best to listen and understand enough to keep one's foot out of one's mouth before speaking much. So it is best to listen to see how active citizenship is being practiced in a given situation. By listening you may come to understand how active citizenship, and more, is practiced there.
We know something about co-operation and co-operating. Co-operating is a lot. It is useful and important, it is not all of citizenship and governance. It is an important step toward and during social and social and political organization. It is also a step toward well practiced governance. We need not be bored by believing we know everything or even enough. Let learning happen. Co-operate with that happening.
There are interesting skills to develop. Along with citizenship skills, we can upgrade individual self-care skills. We can also up-grade our oral communication skills. All are important in a fast changing world. The same skills are adaptive to fast changing climate which is becoming less gentle.
So, practicing care of ourselves as individuals and as part of and adaptive polity is important to effective citizenship. Democratic citizenship is less likely to break in really tough times. Health care, public and individual is also important for dealing with health problems coming with the expected Earth changes. You may find that taking part in democratic conversation and dialogue can be a practical and fun way to move into our "new" reality.
It seems time to consider how to increase our understanding of and skills in governance. We are likely to need those skills more urgently soon. We need them as members of a nation, of a society, of an organization, of a group, and as individuals. We can learn much from each other, from experience and with practice. A dialogue group can help and you could find some help through exploration of this web site. Reading could help. We can prepare by showing-up with a will to co-operate. There is a big variety of useful, interesting, and fun doings and happenings to come to a better understanding of. Your participation and help will be valuable. The doings may include the use of a leadership skill, they may include active democracy, the co-operation of many may become more important. No one needs to know it all, they can't, but all of us can benefit by developing more than one new skill and understanding to get us through the next couple of decades.
Some of us may want to better understand the doings, intentions, and practices of our actual governments. We not only need to govern ourselves, but also a town, a county, a neighborhood, or a survival group as a co-operating participant. Hopefully some of us will find it interesting and satisfying to organize a meeting, to clarify and promote an important issue, to show how to use democracy, and to check out alternatives.
We may be fewer with much to learn. The participation and co-operation of more may be vital. Democracy can keep more of us involved in the work that needs to be done and more learning how to to that work effectively. Some say that in a democracy no one is to blame, and all are responsible.
Please remember that you can share any information you find about active democracy, active citizenship, productive dialogue or adapting to our world and will be appreciated. Use the "comments" app. I will try to pass things on. Also please help me to correct my errors on this site. I also accept suggestions(nice ones)for improving my content.
Healthy citizenship and working groups are good for us.
Does "self-governance" sound too selfish?
I am among those human beings who believe that we have the right to accept responsibility for governing ourselves. We claim the right of self-governance. We have the right to govern our minds and bodies. That right may include a great deal more. It may include sharing governance of our family, our tribe, our body politic, our town, our government.
This belief extends to some responsibility to share in governance and care for our universe, galaxy, solar system, Earth, world, nation, country, city, economy, health, education, culture, group, and more.
I cannot do much alone, but I can co-operate. I believe that it is fine, good, fair, and just that others claim their responsibility and right to do the same. Self-governance has been important to many who believe that it is important for our mental and physical health. They claim responsibility for their collective and individual lives.
We do not have to do more than we can. A good start is arranging to show up. It is a good thing that we are so many. There are enough of us to do a big job well and still take time to "kick back" relax and enjoy.
Thank you for reading.
Richard