Americans Don't Have Time For Democracy and Our Careers are to Blame

Will Democracy Survive?

The stock market is soaring with the presidential election largely behind us. However, a trip to the polls each year is not enough participation to ensure a democracy. Many of us are too busy to properly participate in our democratic system. I've spent at least 20 years of my life focused on the future of work. I've lived through the times in the 1980's when you simply picked up a phone and called a client. It was not done on a cell phone, and you didn't need to schedule the call. People were working yet they were available; not booked back-to-back on a digital calendar with no breaks in the daily action. The future of work does not bode well for our ability to participate in democracy.

Citizens need to oversee politicians to ensure that a democracy survives. America is actually a constitutional republic, which we call a democracy. The Founding Fathers called it a republic. In a true democracy, a 51% majority can impose its will on the minority, no matter how distained by minority factions. Pure democracy enables the potential for tyranny of the majority. John Stuart’s Mills’ essay On Liberty, published in 1859, is a philosophical essay that touches on the relationship between authority and liberty. Suffice it to say that in a democratic constitutional republic, there can be various protections for the minority ensuring their liberty. For example, in a constitutional republic it would not be acceptable for a majority to decide that those in the minority must work for lower wages or be blocked from pursuing various career fields as long as the republic’s constitution protects universal freedoms for all within the republic. For this paper, let’s agree to use the term “democracy” to label the current U.S form of government.

There is a burden which citizens must bear to ensure they have a voice beyond just the voting booth. In the U.S., management of the republic is left to elected officials (politicians) and government employees (bureaucrats). That said, in a democracy, the citizens must play an active part by scrutinizing the actions of these politicians (and bureaucrats) as they perform their duties. Therein lies the burden of the citizens. Historically, Americans proved it was possible to “fight City Hall” using effective protest to influence or change decisions, and even dislodge corrupt officials and regimes within municipalities, States, and the Federal government. The most powerful example in the last 60 years may be the effectiveness of protest to end the Vietnam war in the late 1960’s. Fighting City Hall springs from citizens who are paying close attention to the actions of government and who are willing and able to take appropriate actions to express their views, influence the politicians, and ensure that government is performing in an acceptable way. It’s no wonder that students are often a big voice behind protest. Firstly, they often have an idealistic passion; seeing protest to protect their futures. Most importantly, they have the time to commit to the cause. This is where American’s have lost their way over the last 50 years. Certainly, over the last two decades, with the onset of a digital, global economy, most white-collar jobs seem to relentlessly demand our attention at the expense of free time for family, recreation, and civic duties.  We are booked back to back throughout the day, we schedule phone calls to reach other busy people, and we certainly don't take time for long lunches.

While Americans found themselves with less time to pay attention to the workings of government, career politicians emerged. While white collar Americans rapidly saw their compensation levels increase, politicians saw a slower pace of increased compensation. Wage disparity pulled highly talented people with college degrees into corporate jobs rather than politics. Using the historical pay of U.S Senators as a proxy for compensation paid to individuals in political offices, one can easily see that over the last 50 years, the spread between wages paid to those in political office and those in corporate careers expanded rapidly. Free market forces pulled talent into the corporate ranks leaving a smaller percentage of the best and brightest seeking careers in politics. For the period 1969 to 1975 a senator's annual base pay was $42,500. In 2020 they were paid $174,000. ( Senate Pay Report )That’s a 400% increase over a 50 year timeframe. Average CEO pay as a proxy for overall corporate management and executive wages rose 940% from 1978 to 2018. Twice the rate of wage growth compared to wage growth for politicians. ( CEO Pay Report )

It stands to reason that college educated Americans were strongly pulled to corporate careers for more attractive pay. With globalization and technology as drivers, this work demanded inordinate time commitments when compared to previous generations. So, by 2020 this group of citizens finds themselves consumed by work.  Furthermore, often we are two-career couples leaving the work of family to be shared by two busy people who also must get their day-jobs done. Where is the time for a daily pause? Where is the time to attend a meeting at City Hall? Who can find the time to research whether pulling out of the World Health Organization or the Paris Peace Accord is a good idea? What should our government do about climate change? All questions that require work and time for a citizen to become informed and then hold elected officials accountable. Without doing this work, we don't have the facts needed for well-informed point of view. We abdicate and don't truly know the facts beyond media soundbites. When people do find time, it is likely consumed by a little recreation for stress relief, an aging parent, children’s scheduled playtime, a few minutes for household chores, or helping children with homework. And there is certainly no time left to serve on a volunteer ambulance corps, or fire department, or in a service organization such as the Lion’s Club, or Rotary. Nor is there time to serve as a local elected official at the town level.  The result- we have become disappointed with our government.

What has this constant busyness cost us?   It lost us access to government and hence our voice, and our jobs are to blame. Even if you had the time to pursue an issue, access is almost impossible. Have you ever tried to call your senator or arrange an appointment with her or him to speak? Fifty years ago, it was conceivable for an average citizen to effectively correspond with a senator or even arrange for a phone conversation or personal meeting. Today, without some form of special access, citizens are caught in a maze of “staffers” who shield the senator as though we were a distraction for the senator rather than a member of the constituency.  This has led to dissatisfaction among citizens. Since the 1990’s, Americans have been growing less confidant in the nation’s future. According to the Pew Research study in 2015, fewer than half of those polled (45%) expressed a lot of confidence in the future of the U.S. The research notes that this “is substantially lower than during the 1970s.”. In the same Pew research study, 75% of those polled felt that the Congress had a negative effect on what was happening in the country. While 82% in that same group felt that small business had a positive effect on what was happening in the country. So, it should not be a surprise that a meaningful segment of the nation wanted changes in Washington. Candidates with no political experience, coming from corporate jobs, struck a chord with enough of this constituency to achieve victories.  Perhaps these people now in office will become a counterbalance to reduce the power of the political machinery that has taken hold while many of us were too busy at work.

I study the future of work for a living - in reality, work demands are not likely to change. We will continue to schedule calls, be booked in back-to-back Zoom meetings, and generally be too busy. However, each of us must find the time to participate in the democratic process beyond just casting a vote. While busy, you must find time to get better informed on the issues, serve on a government task force, or committee, or volunteer for work for within your local political party so you can be connected to the work of the government you are putting into office. If you don't, the odds are you won't like what you see in government and you will only have yourself to blame.