Here’s an interesting essay on how the American public’s relationship with government is changing from citizens to customers.
It would be a mistake to conclude, as many commentators do, that Americans are apathetic citizens gone AWOL. But there’s no question that the fundamental relationship between citizen and government has changed. Increasingly, public officials regard us as “customers” rather than as citizens, and there are crucial differences between the two. Citizens own the government. Customers just receive services from it. Citizens belong to a political community with a collective existence and public purposes. Customers are individual purchasers seeking the best deal. Customers may receive courteous service, but they do not own the store.
The article also discusses the rise of personal, rather than popular democracy, how both parties aren’t eager to expand voting rolls to increase voter participation, and how advocacy groups and “movements” tend to focus more on litigation and testimony than on rallying the citizenry to the polls.
Interesting — and disturbing — stuff.
(via InstaPundit)
Yeah, who out there doesn’t vote… ???
We need to send the brownshirts to you, if you don’t…
I can’t believe how stupid and apathetic the majority of this country is…
Yes, I am cynical and I do believe that my tiny vote gets lost – but that is only because a bunch of the people that might share my beliefs have decided voting is too much of a hassle.
So tick by tick the Fuckin’ Seen Hand is moving the country into it’s pocket… there is no unseen hand at work here, you can watch them gently suckle microsoft – you can see them fret about punishing the monsters at enron… how soft can they make the stick? … but how many of us are going to get out there tomorrow and try to change all that…?
Too damn few.
Has anything changed?