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In my opinion, there are two types of local citizens: those inside the party and those outside the party, but the two are neither contradictory nor incompatible.
1. Internal
The radicals must be listened to, otherwise all non-leaders will disappear from party activity, and parties – the basic form of a properly functioning democratic institution – will become citizen parties, transformed into parties of leaders. Do we really want parties to consist only of professional leaders and politicians? No social or demographic representation? No presence in territories and cities? But this is the type of party we are about to have: self-enclosed, operating in a bubble of praise, where everyone has known each other for years, everyone has some kind of family connection or is a friend from school, and they belong to an increasingly closed elite, with increasingly close intermarriages with aristocratic families.
Currently, anyone with a “party” stain can no longer get rid of it and is automatically labeled as persona non grata within the party (if they come from the sphere of active citizens) and persona non grata outside the party, because – due to their personal and political – they are unpredictable and put his cause and the cause of the citizens with whom he identifies over the interests of the party and its institutions. This excludes many cadres who could serve the country from party life. We also need to revisit the issue of remuneration paid to elected officials. The salaries of the presidents of the republican boards, the presidents of the municipal councils and government officials are low compared to the average of similar professions and the budgets they manage. This is an unpopular but necessary topic if we really want to attract and keep the best government officials in the political world.
The voices of the party’s grassroots activists must be heard – in an active and not just dramatic way – and this must go beyond the farcical democracy that political parties like to display during election campaigns.
2. Outside the parties
Let’s be clear: the establishment (of all political parties) hates and/or despises all those who take an active citizenship approach outside of the traditional party framework. He disdains their views, undermines them whenever possible, andmedia Friends”, spread rumors and gossip, and organize networks of trolls. This is true in all parties, but especially in the Social Democratic Party (a party in the eternal war of succession) and the Socialists, who are now tired of being in power – for many years – in Lisbon and São Bento.
Sometimes installations and situations will use these citizens as a burn list to draw enemy fire and keep them away from the truly important people on the list.
There is an insurmountable dichotomy between active citizenship and party activity. Not necessarily, but after so many years in power, the logic of mercenaryism has taken root within the ruling party, and “agreements”, “direct adjustments”, exchange of favors and work have become a way of life. Party politics is no longer the politics of careers, but the politics of personal and family survival. Critics are regarded as “public opinion crimes” or targeted and prosecuted. To peopleCritics cannot be removed or placed – just – in a “speak out” box, but rather are framed and their reasons considered and responded to.
The actions of the climate strikes are also worth reflecting on: to what extent does this increasingly violent and destructive resource not stem from the growing distance between elected officials and voters, where representatives and parliamentarians (both ruling and opposition parties) systematically do not respond to citizens, and when forms on government websites go unanswered? I think the CPA should be amended to force these elected officials to respond to all contact requests.
Would the housing emergency have reached its current catastrophic state if we had listened to citizens?I have serious and well-founded doubts, because I remember him being treated with sarcasm or indifference when he brought this topic to PS meetings and congresses.
Finally, active citizenship can be a source of recruitment and renewal for political parties. The Left Bloc has been doing this well for years. Livre tried to emulate it, and Chega did the same (with much success among young people). But the PS and PSD continue to recruit most of their staff from the youth of the party and from secondary and higher education, which limits the diversity of staff who increasingly have no experience outside the party framework and local or national power, and who know little or nothing about the world of activism and private companies. This phenomenon is already evident in the government and parliament, and it tends to worsen in the coming years, with the quality of our representatives and their social and demographic representation being seriously compromised in the long run.
3. Conclusion
a) Political parties and active citizens must find new ways to work together. Democracy will only be strengthened if citizen participation is valued and included in decision-making processes. Change starts now: political parties need to undergo a profound renewal, must be open to diversity of thought and experience, and elected representatives must assume greater accountability to citizens.
b) The coexistence of active citizens and political parties is not a utopia, but an urgent necessity. By promoting citizen participation and strengthening accountability mechanisms, we can build a fairer, more transparent and representative democracy. Now is the time to overcome the dichotomy and build bridges between different forms of political participation.
c) The distance between citizens and their political representatives is a serious problem that threatens the health of our democracy. Active citizenship offers a unique opportunity to revitalize party politics and bring citizens closer to the decision-making process. However, such a change requires profound changes in political parties, which must be open to pluralism and citizen participation. At the same time, active citizens must find ways to influence political decisions and demand greater responsiveness from their representatives.
Rui Martins, founder Party democratization movement
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