The People Have A Responsibility, And Deserve The Opportunity, To Participate In Change

ON THE AGENDA

Will a Delay on the Climate Treaty be Time Well-Spent?

Scott Bittle
Nov 16, 2009

World leaders flatly admitted this weekend what everyone pretty much knew: there won't be a major deal on climate change at the big conference in Copenhagen next month. Instead, leaders will try to keep the process going, in hopes of coming up with a deal next year.

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Listening To Young Americans On The Deficit

Francie Grace
Nov 13, 2009

You wouldn't think the bottom line on the $1.6 trillion federal budget deficit and $11.9 trillion national debt crisis could be summed up in a single sentence, but when the right words whizzed by, the Wall Street Journal's David Wessel was quick to point them out.

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FACING UP TO THE
Nation's Finances

National Debt Clock

The People Have A Responsibility, And Deserve The Opportunity, To Participate In Change

By Public Agenda President Ruth A. Wooden

Americans stood in lines to vote for hours and volunteered in staggering numbers in the final months of the campaign – and no matter which candidate they supported this was an impressive display of citizenship.

Now that the election is over, the question is this: Will citizens stay engaged and continue working for the public good, or will they return to their private concerns and become passive observers and consumers, waiting for the latest set of leaders to come up with solutions to the incredible challenges we face?

We believe that, if we are to make real progress on entrenched, unresolved issues, the public voice that made itself heard on various sides of the issues during the election cannot go silent in the months and years to come.

Real change will only come if government and citizens work together to create it. And I’m not just thinking of traditional citizen activists of the left and right. The nation needs a much larger, richer and more diverse array of citizens working together to help the nation find and put in place pragmatic, and not ideological, solutions to complex problems.

But is it realistic to think that the nation can continue to tap the energy and creativity of millions of citizens now that the organizing framework of the election is over? There is if the right conditions are put in place. For over thirty years Public Agenda has worked for better public dialogue, more robust public participation and a more productive working relationship among citizens, experts and policymakers. We know it is possible to bring more citizens to the table, put fresh ideas on the table, and work through our differences and resistances to change to find ways to move forward together.

The problems we face as a nation are great, and we cannot afford to leave citizens out of solving them. The hugely effective grassroots organizing that took place during the election season ought to be mobilized to keep Americans engaged and learning. The vast majority of Americans would be happy to hear the message: “The election may be over, but your job as citizen isn’t done yet.”

Citizens deserve the opportunity to stay engaged and the times that we live in demand that they do. Public Agenda will contribute all it can to help bring this about, and will join with others from all sectors of society who share this goal.

For all the help you need to stay engaged as an active citizen, understand the choices we face as a nation, and let our leaders know what you want and what you expect them to do, see our Citizen's Survival Kit and its issue guides on the Economy, Iraq & Beyond, Health Care, Taxes, Spending & Debt, Immigration, and Climate Change.