Why not make everyone a Citizen?

Some critics of a Celebration Society believe that everyone should be a Citizen. In my view, that diminishes the importance of the title and office.

In modern democracies, citizenship is a birthright. As such, its powers and responsibilities often remain little known or taken for granted. While a society can force people to learn these–and, indeed, some do compel citizens to vote–in my view, coercion should be minimized in societal design. Citizenship as an earned office is much more promising.

For example, in the USA, immigrants seeking citizenship must pass tests demonstrating their basic knowledge of documents such as the Constitution. Eagerly seeking the benefits of citizenship, they do so gladly. Such citizens vote much more regularly than birthright citizens; from pride, not coercion.

There should be no penalty for non-Citizenship, though Citizens should be entitled to compensation for the duties of office in the form of a modest guaranteed income sufficient to meet their basic needs. (The government may provide something similar to residents, either based on need or universally. If so, I believe that Citizens should then receive something additional for their service.)

The American founders were well aware of history, and as such understood that democracy has a soft underbelly. Mob rule and demagoguery frightened them. That is often cited as a reason why they restricted voting rights to male landowners, whom they viewed as more rational and capable than other people.

Today, most of us no longer share that view. However, recent history shows that the risk of demagoguery remains strong in democracies across the world. How can such threats be permanently prevented, along with other threats to the body politic such as bribery of elected and appointed officials?

The Venetian Republic had the right idea, though imperfectly implemented. Instead of democracy, they had a system in which Citizens alone could hold office in the government. Parliament voted on laws, but citizens were selected to serve in Parliament via a lottery. The term of office was singular, and followed by a term of non-service.

By making Citizen a hard-won office, available to any resident following successful completion of an objective process designed to test knowledge and character, a Celebrationist government and society would meet Jefferson’s demand for an educated, vigilant populace. Parliament could then work as follows:

• Any Citizen could be summoned at any time for a single, time-limited term of office as a member of Parliament, a member of the Administration or as a juror, with few exemptions.
• After their term in office, each Citizen will leave government for a period of time at least as long as they had served. This will cause those in office to view government power and decisions differently than elected officials who make a career of such service.
• Upon assuming an executive role in the government, a Citizen would have to place all business interests and assets related to that role into a blind trust for the duration of service.
• Upon leaving service, a former Minister or other executive office holder would be prohibited from engaging in any activity that had been overseen by their governmental role for a fixed period of time. Likewise, anyone serving as a judge would have a similar prohibition.

I do not see membership in Parliament, or service on a jury, as requiring a blind trust or any restriction of subsequent activities. However, I may be mistaken.

By making parliamentary terms of office staggered and varying in length, and selecting members by lottery, the influence of money on politics would largely be eliminated. Political parties would become nearly impossible to organize or sustain.

There would be certain additional changes:

• By limiting laws to a maximum number of words and requiring a computerized test of comprehensibility, a legal system would arise in which people would rarely need lawyers to assert their rights in court or elsewhere.
• By explicitly making the Charter the highest law of the land, never subject to amendment by law, there would be a codified set of values governing the whole society.
• By reposing in the Citizens as a body the power to change any aspect of the government via Initiative, government of and by the People would be forever enshrined in the society.
• By requiring either supermajority vote by the Citizens or complete agreement by all Branches of government to change the Charter, it would be less subject to mob rule. (An educated populace of Citizens would provide additional protection.)
• The residents would create the initial Charter, thereafter trusting the Citizens to modify it on rare occasions when necessary. The residents might well specify in the Charter certain inalienable rights of residents, only modifiable with majority or supermajority consent of residents.
• The residents would establish the original requirements to qualify for Citizenship. Thereafter, they would trust those Citizens to run the society. This would allow those not wishing to assume such responsibilities to enjoy many benefits of society without taking an active role in governance.

As to Citizen being an office and thereby special, this is not to diminish resident or visitor (the other two classes of people in a Celebration Society). Each is equally valued as a person. Each has the same basic rights.

By making Citizen an office, its powers are more likely to be treated with respect, and exercised.

Many people are so set into a hierarchical, scarcity mindset that they see hierarchy where none exists. None exists here.

Any resident can become a Citizen through a process of preparation, testing and service. If they fail, they can try again until they succeed. I expect that many residents will be wealthy or retired with a pension, so they won’t need the “job” of Citizen. If they prefer to simply let others voluntarily perform this service, that does not make them lesser.

Any official actions by a Citizen serving a term in the government will be permanently recorded and available for inspection by any other Citizen. Intentional abuse of power would likely carry severe consequences—possibly including banishment from the Celebration Society.
The pay given to Citizens will be received with pride and dignity, even when the Citizen only “works” several hours per week; generally including time off when desired.

The net effect of all this and other measures to be added as necessary will be to assure that true Citizen government takes hold and remains in effect for so long as a Celebration Society exists.