1.2.2: Democracies: Citizenship as a Revolutionary Idea

 1.2.2: Democracies: Citizenship as a Revolutionary Idea The United States had no city-states. Each colony, however, was small and independent like a city-state. After the American Revolution, the colonies united. With the greater strength and resources that came from political unity, they conquered almost all of North America, bringing it under the power of a central government.

This classic painting, Siege at Yorktown by Louis Coulder, depicts George Washington and Jean de Rochambeau giving the final orders for the attack on Yorktown in 1781. This turned out to be the decisive battle of the American Revolution, allowing the fledgling American democracy to proceed. Credit: Art Media - Gallerie des Batailles/HIP/The Image Work

This classic painting, Siege at Yorktown by Louis Coulder, depicts George Washington and Jean de Rochambeau giving the final orders for the attack on Yorktown in 1781. This turned out to be the decisive battle of the American Revolution, allowing the fledgling American democracy to proceed. Credit: Art Media - Gallerie des Batailles/HIP/The Image Works 352 The government formed in this new country was called a democracy. (Derived from two Greek words—demos [common people] and kratos [power]—democracy literally means “power to the people.”) Because of the bitter antagonisms associated with the revolution against the British king, the founders of the new country were distrustful of monarchies. They wanted to put political decisions into the hands of the people. This was not the first democracy the world had seen, but such a system had been tried before only with smaller groups. Athens, a city-state of Greece, practiced democracy 2,500 years ago, with each free male older than a certain age having the right to be heard and to vote. Members of some Native American tribes, such as the Iroquois, also elected their chiefs, and, in some, women were able to vote and to hold the office of chief. (The Incas and Aztecs of Mexico and Central America had monarchies.) Because of their small size, tribes and cities were able to practice direct democracy. That is, they were small enough for the eligible voters to meet together, express their opinions, and then vote publicly—much like a town hall meeting today. As populous and spread out as the United States was, however, direct democracy was impossible, and the founders invented representative democracy. Certain citizens (at first only white men who owned property) voted for other white men who owned property to represent them. Later, the vote was extended to men who didn’t own property, then to African American men, and, finally, to women.

Democracy (or “democratization”) is a global social movement. People all over the world yearn for the freedoms that are taken for granted in the Western democracies. Shown here are tribesmen voting in the Philippines. Credit: ANDY ZAPATA/PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Democracy (or “democratization”) is a global social movement. People all over the world yearn for the freedoms that are taken for granted in the Western democracies. Shown here are tribesmen voting in the Philippines. Credit: ANDY ZAPATA/PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo Today we take the concept of citizenship for granted. What is not evident to us is that this idea had to be envisioned in the first place. There is nothing natural about citizenship; it is simply one way in which people choose to define themselves. Throughout most of human history, people were thought to belong to a clan, to a tribe, or even to a ruler. The idea of citizenship—that by virtue of birth and residence, people have basic rights—is quite new to the human scene. The concept of representative democracy based on citizenship—perhaps the greatest gift the United States has given to the world—was revolutionary. Power was to be vested in the people themselves, and government was to flow from the people. That this concept was revolutionary is generally forgotten, but its implementation meant the reversal of traditional ideas. It made the government responsive to the people’s will, rather than the people being responsive to the government’s will. To keep the government responsive to the needs of its citizens, people were expected to express dissent. In a widely quoted statement, Thomas Jefferson observed: A little rebellion now and then is a good thing…. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government…. God forbid that we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion…. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. (In Hellinger and Judd 1991) The idea of universal citizenship—of everyone having the same basic rights by virtue of being born in a country (or by immigrating and becoming a naturalized citizen)—flowered slowly and came into practice only through fierce struggle. When the United States was founded, for example, this idea was still in its infancy. Today, it seems inconceivable to Americans that sex or race–ethnicity should be the basis for denying anyone the right to vote, hold office, make a contract, testify in court, or own property. For earlier generations of property-owning white American men, however, it seemed just as inconceivable that women, racial–ethnic minorities, and the poor should be allowed such rights.