Civic Witness Series: Questions from the Attic

The one thing the average citizen can do to defend our democracy

“The Civic Witness Series: Questions from the Attic,” is founded on a simple premise: the people living through democratic erosion have questions the ‘experts’ aren’t addressing; it is inspired by and in honor of Adia in the Attic . These questions matter because they provide an opportunity for sharing and documenting what democratic erosion feels like to people living through it. We don’t pretend to have “The Answer” to these questions, but we hope to stimulate the conversation her questions have prompted.

Please enter the conversation. Please ask us additional questions

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“What is the one thing the average citizen can do to defend our democracy?”

You have probably heard pundits pulling their hair and ranting that our democracy is ‘under siege’ until you’re tired of it. You’re probably thinking, even if that’s true, what can the average person do about it? After all, if the experts are so freaked out, there’s probably nothing the man or woman on the street can do but buckle up and prepare for a wild ride down the slippery slope to an elected dictatorship.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. There is one thing that every citizen can do, and that all citizens should be doing.

That one thing is not storming the barricades, shouting louder than the next person on social media, or waiting for some hero to come charging over the hill to save the republic. The one thing that every citizen can do is much more ordinary, and therefore much more powerful. You can become an informed, consistent participant in civic life. Vote, yes, but don’t stop at voting. Know who represents you, pay attention to what they do, ask them questions, and hold them accountable when their actions fail to match their promises, or when they fail to live up to their oaths of office. In short, engage in your citizenship.

Democracy is often discussed as though it only lives in Washington, locked inside marble buildings and guarded by people with fancy titles. Democracy actually lives much closer to home. It lives in school board meetings, city council hearings, zoning decisions, sheriff’s races, county budgets, library boards, election offices, and state legislatures. These are the places where rules are written, money is spent, rights are protected or weakened, and public trust is either strengthened or slowly poisoned. In these places, the average citizen has far more influence there than he or she can ever imagine.

Read beyond the headlines

The first step is to make a habit of knowing what’s true before deciding what’s outrageous. Authoritarians thrive on confusion. They want you exhausted, cynical, and convinced that everybody is lying to you, every institution is corrupt, and there is no point in paying attention to anything. That attitude might feel sophisticated, but it’s really just surrender. The average citizen can resist it by reading beyond the headlines. Check reliable sources, listen to more than one viewpoint, and refuse to pass along rumors just because they happen to be what you already believe. Truth isn’t a luxury in a democracy. It’s the very air we breathe.

Show up in your community

The second step is to show up between elections. Voting is essential, but if you only vote every two or four years and then disappear, you leave the daily work of democracy to lobbyists, extremists, organized factions, and officials who prefer low public attention. Showing up doesn’t have to mean that you have to devote your life to politics. It can mean simply attending one local meeting a month, or helping a neighbor register to vote. Small acts, repeated by millions, are not small at all.

Put democracy before winning

The third step is to demand democratic behavior from your own side. This is the hardest part, because it requires citizens to value the system more than the temporary advantage of winning. It’s easy to condemn lies, intimidation, corruption, and contempt for the law when they come from your opponents. But it’s far more important to condemn those things when they come from people we like and support. A democracy can’t survive if every faction insists that only the other faction must obey the rules.

This kind of citizenship is not glamorous. It won’t get you much applause. Nobody builds statues to people who do the mundane things that are the bread and butter of any democracy, such as reading and understanding meeting agendas, checking facts before sharing a social media post, or voting in every election. But these are exactly the people who keep a free society from sliding into chaos or strongman rule. They create the habit of accountability. They remind public servants that the public is watching them. They make it harder for bad actors to operate in darkness.

So, if you are an average citizen wondering what you can do, the first thing is: don’t underestimate yourself. Pick one public body that affects your life and follow it. Learn the names of the people who represent you. Ask them plain questions: Will you respect election results? Will you protect voting rights? Will you obey the law even when it is inconvenient? Will you tell the truth when your supporters would rather hear a lie? Then remember the answers, share them with others, and vote accordingly.

Democracy is not defended only in moments of crisis. It’s defended in ordinary habits, by ordinary people, which can avert the crisis. The one thing the average citizen can do is to refuse to be average in attention, honesty, and participation. A republic guarded only by experts will eventually fail. A republic guarded by citizens who pay attention, speak up, and show up will always have a fighting chance.

Charles A. Ray served 20 years in the U.S. Army, including two tours in Vietnam. He retired as a senior US diplomat, serving 30 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with assignments as ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of Zimbabwe, and was the first American consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He also served in senior positions with the Department of Defense and is a member of The Steady State.

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 390 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.