In a previous post, we looked first at cultural definitions of political accountability. Then at what I called real political accountability. Below is the definition from the previous post. Read it slowly, carefully. Imagine that together, you and the citizens of your district together are the manager. Imagine your representative in Congress is the worker.

Real accountability is when:

• the manager guides the worker and has expectations
• the worker regularly answers the manager’s questions
• the manager judges the worker
• the manager is able to fire the worker

To make real political accountability, we’d need ways to effectively manage together. We’d need all constituents to communicate with each other. We’d need to share our guidance, expectations, and evaluations. And we’d need to be able to elect a new person.

It’s hard to imagine. It requires new thinking.

When I talk to people about it, most people think it’s not possible. They conclude that without really thinking it through. Most people have thoughts like:

• “There are too many of us- we can’t all be bosses.”
• “Politicians need donors more than approval.”
• “Voters don’t keep informed, so just believe political ads.”
• “Politicians won’t report to us- they don’t want to be accountable.”

And on and on. There are thoughts about corruption, primaries, gerrymandering, parties, and more. These automatic thoughts prevent real thinking.

I didn’t come up with it in a day. It took about 6 months. And I’ve been talking to hundreds of people about it and working on it for years. Please, don’t expect it to make sense all at once. And even if it does make sense, don’t expect it to rearrange all your thinking very quickly.

Usually, it takes a conversation of 15 minutes to two hours for someone to get it.

Imagine: What would it take?

And some possibilities we never, ever consider. Even in the articles yesterday’s post linked to in Wikipedia, legal dictionaries, and U.N. papers, the articles didn’t ask: What would it take to have our elected officials be truly accountable to citizens?

We have accustomed ourselves to an incomplete definition of political accountability. It’s not just a cultural adaptation, it’s a human adaptation. It’s high time we question it.

Please, stop reading now. Maybe go for a walk and just think about the question:  What would it take to have our elected officials be truly accountable to us? What would it take for us all to be the bosses of our politicians?

This is a hard question. I’ve talked to hundreds of people, and no one had a decent answer. (For more on this, see the first article in another series, about how America has political accountability in its blind-spot.)

We’ll answer this in the next article, about what is needed for true political accountability to exist.