Memo to lawmakers: Speak to voters as citizens

First, the study revealed a set of societal issues that Americans feel are just as critical to our country’s success as our standard policy issues. They cited a lack of accountability and responsibility among citizens, such as cafeteria workers having to clean up after a lunchroom food fight because school administrators are prohibited from holding children accountable for their mess. 

Citizens noted a lack of courtesy and respect for others that has led to the loss of a sense of community, for example, letting bad public behavior slide out of fear of being turned on in anger. They commented how greed and an American drive for financial success values professional, high-earning occupations, pushing the perception that you fail if you’re not rich, rather than promoting the value and respect that everyone who contributes to society has a right to enjoy.

Citizens feel sure that the country’s overall direction relies on a healthy civil society in addition to smart policy choices. However, they do not feel that these societal issues are being addressed. There is a conversation that is critical to the overall health of our nation that no one is having in a visible, meaningful way.

The second key insight is that Americans believe that we as citizens are part of the problem, but no one is requiring us to be part of the solution.  We have become “sideline citizens,” frustrated by our lack of ability to truly effect change at the policy level.

The impenetrability of the system and the daunting size of our problems contribute to sidelining the citizenry rather than inviting us into the process. It’s a bit like giving someone an ice pick and asking them to take down the Hoover Dam. The impossibility of the task just shuts us down.

Directly linked to Americans feeling ineffectual is the realization that there is a difference between being spoken to as a citizen versus as a voter. Recognizing us as citizens acknowledges all of the duties of citizenship, placing us in a position of responsibility and accountability and elevating us to the role of being part of the solution. 

But speaking to us as voters relegates us to the transactional task of selecting our elected officials and hoping that they will be the solution. This supports what I believe to be part of President Obama’s success in 2008, which was his ability to tap into the American people’s need to become part of the solution by speaking to them as citizens. This may also explain his political resiliency in the face of deep dissatisfaction among Americans on the economy because of his willingness to be “the grown-up in the room amid the food fight in the cafeteria.”

Raising the importance of our societal issues to that of our policy issues and recognizing us as citizens presents a strategic opportunity for either party. But it is the Democrats who are best positioned to play this role being the socially progressive party. Who will take the responsibility to fully engage Americans between election cycles, harnessing the ability each of us holds for solving our societal woes in order to move our country in the right direction?

Brace is the owner of Democracy Cafeteria, a political consulting firm bringing consumer marketing strategy and research principles to the political arena. He holds an MBA in Marketing and Management from Michigan State University and can be reached at chris@democracycafeteria.org.