Turn Your Democracy Up to Eleven

In a recent New York Times Op-Ed, author and founder of New America Michael Lind asked, “Is there too much democracy in America or too little?”

I believe the real question our country must answer isn’t do we have too much or too little democracy. It is this: do we have strong democratic systems built for smarter 21st century government?

This is a fundamental question that divided our founders, and one I am forced to grapple with every day. We at The OpenGov Foundation make it possible for citizens to better see, shape and understand their government. We make it easier for people to access public information, be heard by their elected officials and hold them accountable. Our mission is to gradually turn the democracy knob to eleven, supporting both a more informed, engaged citizenry and legislatures that can handle the increased volume.

More than a few times, government officials and staff have greeted our work skeptically. “It looks like you’re greasing the wheels for Internet mob rule,” as a senior member of the Maryland General Assembly put it to me. A valid question, but one that belies a tenuous grasp on reality. More than two thirds of his fellow Marylanders are frustrated and want more opportunities to have a voice in the decisions that impact their lives, families and businesses, not fewer. Poll after national poll confirms a large majority of Americans feel the same. The real concern, Lind argues, lies elsewhere:

Over the last few generations, for good reasons as well as bad, the number of policy outcomes that voters can actually influence through the ballot box has steadily declined.

While that may be accurate, I do not think that reversing such a trend is the right remedy to today’s democratic deficit. In fact, increasing the number of complex policy decisions made through divisive partisan elections would most likely hurt more than it would help. And it would edge us closer to the deleterious direct democracy our system of government is designed to prevent.

Lind continues:

Within the federal government itself, much of what was once done by congressional legislation is now done by judicial decrees, agency rules or presidential executive orders…The higher the level of government that makes a decision, the less influence ordinary citizens will have. Corporate lobbies or well-funded NGOs that lose battles at the local level can try to persuade state legislatures or members of Congress to reverse the results. In contrast, working-class Americans on the losing end of a local ordinance are unlikely to prevail in the state capitol or Washington.

That is the real problem facing democracy in America: Citizens lose their leverage once they pull that lever. Even with the best of candidates, once you cast your ballot, you lose all of your accountability options for two, four or even six years. No wonder a scant 19% of Americans trust government to do right by them most or all of the time. And nearly 66% of Americans openly admit anger at the federal government.

Where does one begin pulling up from this nasty nosedive? Lind goes local:

Convincing alienated American citizens that their votes count must begin with empowering the city and county governments in which they have the greatest influence.

I couldn’t agree more. It is the classic principle of federalism at work within our political system. At the local level, we are witnessing a wonderful tectonic shift of decision-making power back to citizens. But it isn’t happening in the quite the way Lind suggests. Voting is but one point on the emerging civic engagement continuum that is made possible by new technologies that are transforming how citizens interact with their government between elections.

In Washington, D.C., citizens, elected officials and stakeholders are using our free Madison software to govern together on the Internet. Everyone has a seat at the table at Drafts.DC.Gov. In the Windy City, high school students are getting a hands-on civic education through Envision Chicago. Powered by ChicagoCode.org, the next general of municipal leaders are engaging directly with City Clerk Susana Mendoza and their aldermen to create better policy outcomes, efficiently, effectively and accountably. It is beautiful, and these communities are only getting started. Lind concludes:

Voter apathy and disenchantment is a political problem that can be solved only by political reforms that give nonelite voters more actual power to affect policy outcomes — not by a new tax credit here or a wage subsidy there.

We do not yet have hard data proving that when citizens and their officials govern together between elections, voter turnout increases. But if someone in Las Vegas would take the bet, I would put big money down that it does.

As we careen closer to November, don’t forget: you have more leverage over government outcomes now than at any time in American history. After pulling that lever, let’s keep our democracy turned up to eleven.

Seamus Kraft is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The OpenGov Foundation.

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