Responsibility and Democratic Rule

Abstract

The failure of citizens to accept responsibility for political and social problems is often lamented; however, it is not always clear what exactly accepting such responsibility entails. I address this problem by examining two visions of responsible citizenship that have significantly influenced American theory and practice, that of Henry David Thoreau and Jane Addams.In the first half of the paper, I demonstrate that Thoreau's account of responsible democratic citizenship is based upon questionable assumptions. Thoreau describes social and political problems as resulting from blameworthy individual behavior, namely the decision to participate in corrupt institutions. Hence, he concludes that the only way to be a responsible citizen is to remove oneself from corrupt and inefficient institutions. Unfortunately, individual dissent is not likely to be a responsible political strategy in all circumstances. The role of blame in this discussion is also troubling, as Thoreau often seems to be blaming his fellow citizens for failing to conform to his own relatively narrow conceptions of human flourishing.In the second half of the paper, I explain how Addams avoids such mistakes. Unlike Thoreau, Addams does not expect individual citizens to bear full moral responsibility for political and social problems. Many problems, she explains, result from social processes, rather than from blameworthy individual behavior. Such problems are best remedied through social cooperation, rather than individual dissent or communal succession. Moreover, while Addams is not unique in calling for collective solutions to shared problems, her understanding of the relationship between responsibility and democratic rule is particularly insightful. For example, she explains why blaming individuals for problems that result from social processes is incompatible with democratic norms. While Addams's account of responsibility democratic citizenship is not completely unproblematic, she provides a useful framework upon which contemporary thinkers can build.