If the forty-fourth president of the US accomplishes nothing else than generating a sense of citizenship among those who (rightly or wrongly) haven’t acted on their rights—who haven’t previously owned their citizenship—he will have enriched the country beyond measure.

A nation’s greatest resource is its citizens. Sure. We say that all the time. But what is a citizen?

As envisioned by liberal democracy (small L; small D), citizens are participants. Citizens are distinct from consumers and tax-payers. Democracies prosper when warm bodies (who may be citizens in a strictly legal sense) become citizens in deed, by their actions. Citizenship is performed. In strict economic terms, creating citizens out of bystanders is only a long-term investment, but it is sustainable and creative.

Last week’s barrage of government rituals had one overarching purpose: to generate a sense of awe and legitimacy to the presidency and the constitution that creates it.
That legitimacy is asserted on two fronts:

• By reference to the timelessness of the constitution, with its enlightenment-era universal statements (“all men are created equal” and similar); and
• By reference to the historical lineage of the new president (how often did we hear the number 44?)

This latter point is hugely important for the direction of our culture: Obama has been placed, and has placed himself, into the lineage of American history. And since he seems to think of himself in part as a history teacher, we can expect more of this throughout his years in office.

Here’s why this is important: for a variety of reasons, some imposed and some self-imposed, there are many, many Americans who feel no particular ownership of their citizenship, but who feel great ownership of Obama. These people occupy all rungs of society, but I am thinking of one particular set: the urban underclass, those who are most likely to exhibit the full gamut of social pathologies, and who are most isolated from citizenship—whether by choice or not.

These people tend to view American history as someone else’s (white man’s) history. If Obama’s legacy consists of nothing else than in opening these lost millions’ eyes to the possibilities of citizenship, he will have served his country better than a thousand new deals.

[photo credit: flickr user mamamusings]