Civic duty ramblings

I was thinking about civic duty today, its not as random as it sounds, but the background is a pretty long story, so I'll spare you the details.

Back to my point, it seems to me, that in society today, Jury Duty is the only legally enforced form of Civic responsibility. Laws are in place to ensure workers are not harmed by participating in jury duty. Laws are also in place requiring citizens to participate in Jury Duty. So Jury duty is a hands on way, legally encouraged, vehicle for participation in the governmental process.

So the thought goes like this. Create some laws that set aside time for other forms of participation. My premise, is that people partake in Jury duty, because they are obligated to take time out to participate. I think if people were forced to take time out to participate in other civic activities they would. One example may be a community consortium, that would run the have access to the Mayor, or Governor, or some other direct access of governmental process. The forum would allow citizens more direct voice in governing.

So similar to Jury duty, you'd have to report to civic duty for a short period (2 - 3 weeks). This would have the same status as Jury duty, (in my head, you'd only have to do one or the other every 2 years, so serving civic duty gets you out of both for 2 years, and vice versa).

I guess the unspoken sentiment, is that representation in this country does not seem equally distributed. Lobbyist can bombard politicians with information and/or propaganda and thus have some degree of direct influence over the process. The average person, in my opinion, feels powerless and voiceless. Which is one reason why I think the US has such low voter turn-outs. I can write to my senator, but is that as effective as a 25 page, professionally produced presentation, over a $300 meal ? I suspect the glossy documents will get more face time.

But imagine, you have 2 weeks with the mayor, or city council, or state legislatures, or your Senator. To really address issues, get any information need, have direct access. What would you say if you had the chance ? What suggestions would you make ? How would you fix the problems of today ? What questions would you want asked ? I think people would talk more [about policy], care more [about politics], if there was someone there to listen.

I know there are issues that would need to be addressed, if something like this were to be implemented, but it seems to me, to be a positive thought. I think we might be surprised at what people can achieve once they recognize the opportunity.

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