Where's My Paycheck And My Democracy?

Something is missing. As we wonder why it is so hard to sustain a small business or find a job, why wages are so low and health insurance so expensive, why the economy isn't working any more for most of us, maybe the first thing to understand is that opportunity and wealth end up in the hands of a few where authority is held in the hands of a few, in other words, where democracy is missing. It is widely acknowledged today that America is just such a place, where wealth is consolidated in the hands of a few and where democracy has gone missing or at least is dangerously diminished.

But to understand where, exactly, democracy is missing from our society, we must consider where it still remains, where it used to be and where it never was to begin with. The last holds the key to our current despair - and to hope.

Where Democracy Remains

Democracy remains today within the essential form of American government. The Constitution stands, laying forth the separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government and among the federal government, state governments and the people as citizens. The separation of powers helps defend against (but cannot wholly prevent) the consolidation of decision-making authority in the hands of a few. It promotes shared authority and mutual accountability among the diverse parts of government, so that government is inclined to represent the diverse political-economic communities within society and to mediate their competing claims so that all have a say.

Political-economic communities are not geographic neighborhoods; they are constituencies grounded in economic roles, in how people make their living. Examples of political-economic communities in American society through history are corporate shareholders (often including top management), independent business owners, union workers, farmers, religious leaders and licensed professionals. When the members of such a community are politically well organized, share a sense of who they are and what kind of world they want and hold considerable economic power, they can influence law and society.

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