Passing Thought: Citizens and Politics

Questioning authority is not a right in a democratic society but a duty. Without such an element, a democracy would be short lived. The only power the citizen has even in the most powerful and stable of democracies is in numbers and indirectly through elected officials. The one thing which can eclipse these relationships is security. The average citizen does not have the tools to control a professional intelligence service, neither directly nor through elected officials. A target, a suspect himself, the citizen may find his duty questioned and his vote canceled if for whatever the reason, security is invoked.