Barriers - True American Greatness

Barriers to Acting as Effective Citizens of a Democracy

This section is about natural barriers – not blame.

There is a stunning array of natural barriers that can get in the way of our engagement, and the key is to see them and decide what to do about them – if we choose to play a part as citizens in protecting and improving the American experiment in democracy.

At some points in time these barriers aren’t a big deal because our democracy has a positive momentum and is on a roll. This is not one of those points in time and our democracy needs us to engage to protect and improve our democratic processes and institutions.

What’s Here?

It’s Not Easy Being a Citizen
Common Individual Barriers
Common Community Barriers
Common Organizational Barriers
Common Systemic Barriers
Common Psychological/Cultural Barriers
The Reinforcing Cycle

Catch Your Thoughts At Any Time

I. It’s not Easy Being a Citizen

It’s not easy being an effective citizen of a democracy – particularly in the face of all the natural barriers that can turn us back or undermine us. But we’re being called to do just that, so step one is to identify the natural barriers that might be in front of us. We can then determine how to get past them – sometimes just refusing to let them stop us and sometimes having to take specific actions to get past them. Courage, perseverance, resilience, and the willingness to go outside our comfort zones (usually not too far) all come into play.

“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”

Roger Crawford

Note – there is some overlap here, but it’s worth looking at similar barriers from slightly different perspectives. These barriers are not listed in any particular order.

II. Common Individual Barriers

Feeling small in the face of the challenges
Lack of civic knowledge
Lack of connections with others intentional citizens
Scope and scale of the challenges – they are too big – beyond me
Unsure/doubting the contribution you can make
Lack of role models
Lack of direction, roadmaps, how to, …..
Lack of resources
Lack of information or too much information or lack of trust in information
Health limitations
Limited digital access or familiarity
Demanding lives – consuming time, lack of money, attention, energy, family to take care of
Challenging/demanding job or career
Difficulty getting connected to groups and organizations
Access – physical or digital
Lack of trust (competency, honesty, won’t be heard/accepted, won’t make a difference)
Apathy
Lack of civic education
Lack of communication from groups, organizations, governments
”Us/Them” divides and polarization
Social, cultural, and linguistic barriers
”Civic Desserts” with lack of opportunities to engage
Voting restrictions – barriers to registering or actually voting, too many elections in a year
Financial constraints
Just can’t seem to get started
“It won’t make a difference”
”I could get pushback, confronted, ostracized by friends or family – social judgement
“I don’t have much to offer” – “My voice won’t matter”
Lack of trust in institutions, leaders or others – cynicism
Not being asked/invited

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

III. Common Community Barriers

Polarization and hostility
Cultural exclusion – Social fragmentation (social status, age, race, ethnicity, religion, education, affiliations, geography, etc.)
Lack of community networks
Dominance by loud or powerful groups
Misinformation and echo-chambers
Fear of being excluded/isolated/shunned because of beliefs

IV. Common Organizational Barriers

Bureaucracy and complexity
Barriers to entry, exclusivity, gatekeepers, etc.
Lack of transparency
False participation (ask for feedback and ignore it)
Meetings inaccessible to ordinary people
Leadership monopolies
Volunteer burnout
Lack of diversity in leadership
“Professionalization” of advocacy groups (and others) excluding “normal citizens”

“Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”

Joshua J. Marine

V. Common Systemic Barriers

Economic inequality
Corruption
Voter suppression
Gerrymandering
Lack of representation or feeling represented
Centralized power
Weak civic education systems
Media concentration
Historical discrimination
Complex legal systems
Lack of trust in democracy or democratic processes and institutions

VI. Common Psychological/Cultural Barriers

Learned helplessness
Political fatigue
Consumer culture replaces civic culture
Hyper-individualism
Fear of making mistakes publicly
Lack of connection – isolation and/or polarization

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

Helen Keller

VII. The Reinforcing Cycle

Part of the power of the barriers is the sheer number of barriers, and part of the power is that there are barriers on multiple levels. A very large part of the power of these barriers is that they form a self-reinforcing system. The lack of connection and impact produces distrust; the distrust produces withdrawal; withdrawal weakens civic institutions; weaker institutions provide less invitation and opportunity (particularly for those already on the margins); less connection and impact results…and on…and on…and on.

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture