The Power Gap

Author: Henry Tam

Democracy is like a piece of well cultivated land. It’s not enough to get the land to a fertile state, but one must maintain it with continuous effort. Otherwise, it would deteriorate and fail to yield what it was meant to produce.

But how should democracy be nurtured? Campaigners by and large focus on surface issues without considering the root conditions. There is much talk of getting people to register to vote, increasing turnout, lowering voting age, tackling barriers to voting, etc. Little attention, by contrast, is given to raising citizens’ understanding of what exercising their democratic power is actually about.

The key word is ‘power’. 

Most of us, as individuals, have very little power. Without wider support, we are vulnerable to violent attacks, extortion, oppressive terms imposed by ruthless employers, exploitative deals pushed by profiteers, the spread of disease, abuse by bigots, and many other possible threats we cannot defend against. It is only because we have pooled our resources through government institutions that we can turn to the state that will use its power to help us when we are at risk from harm that each of us alone cannot repel.

Of course, a state powerful enough to deal with misdeeds against us might, in the wrong hands, act against our interests. It is therefore necessary to have democratic arrangements to give citizens meaningful control over the state – in terms of who can take office, how they are required to be truthful in seeking and exercising power, the independent assessment of their policy proposals, and effective redress to sanction/remove those who are not fit for their position.

It is vital for every society to have a government that is strong enough to meet citizens’ needs, AND sufficiently accountable and responsive in relation to those citizens. The only people who will not support this are individuals, groups, and corporations that seek to advance their own goals at the expense of everyone else.

When they find their aggressive, exploitative actions are countered by the state, they promote their ‘minimalist state’ mantra, with the sole aim of holding back democratic interventions so that they can trample on the wellbeing of individuals who would then be unable to protect themselves. However, if their allies manage to manipulate enough voters to win public office, they shamelessly switch to an authoritarian narrative and insist the state must not be constrained in doing whatever is ‘necessary’ for ‘the good of the country’ – by which they mean what is good for their own wealth, prejudice and ambition.

What the state should be required or allowed to do depends on people’s needs, the prevailing threats, how the state is going to be held accountable, and the support for informed deliberations and civic influence. A key factor is the power gap. 

Are there individuals, groups, corporations with so much more power than others that they can (and in practice, do) pressurise others to comply with their terms? 

The greater the power gap, the more we need a double democracy lock – firstly, to have effective policies and regulations to counter their power in the public interest; and secondly, to have mechanisms to ensure the state itself does not misuse its power and violate the public interest.

When politicians shrug about the wealthy corporations getting too powerful, fundamentalist groups becoming more intimidating in the name of exercising their ‘religious’ freedom, or accountability processes being removed to speed up action against crime, it must be pointed out that their complicit role in widening such power gaps undermines democracy and endangers us all.

For a more detailed account of the problem of power inequalities and what can be done about it, see Henry Tam: Against Power Inequalities: a history of the progressive struggle.

Read more about our Citizen Democracy Series here.

The publisher is Citizen Network. The Power Gap © Henry Tam 2025.