An insightful and inspirational look at the obligations of citizenship

With our country experiencing unsettling political discord and heightened divisiveness, Richard Haass has published an insightful and inspirational book, “The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens” (Penguin Press, 2023).

Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a position he has held since 2003, which is described as “dedicated to being a nonpartisan resource for Americans across the political spectrum on questions of U.S. foreign policy and the country’s relationship with the world.”

Prior to that, Haass was director of policy planning for the U.S. Department of State.

Having worked under four U.S. presidents (one Democrat and three Republicans), Haass is especially qualified to provide an impartial historical perspective on U.S. citizenship, its perils, opportunities and responsibilities.

In the book, Haass focuses on our country’s Bill of Rights, which he characterizes as central to our Constitution. Recognizing that the rights expressed and implied in our Bill of Rights are not absolute and rely on concomitant obligations, Haass describes the “deterioration of our democracy,” undermining our ability to effectively deal with “Russian aggression” and “a much more capable and assertive China,” as well as “a host of other regional and global challenges.”

A foreign policy expert well versed in global issues affecting our democracy, the author posits that the most “urgent and significant threat” that keeps him up at night is “from within, from political divisions ... that [raise] questions about the future of American democracy ... [making] it near impossible for the United States to address many of the economic, social and political problems” impacting our country’s sustainability.

Couching the dilemma of a democracy imperiled in an historical context, Haass describes recent divisive events as existential to the U.S., questions whether the citizenry can overcome the extremes and undertake obligations critical to a functioning democracy.

Haass provides an instructive analysis of our Constitution and its amendments, focusing on inherent tensions between our rights and liberties, proffering that, in order for the Bill of Rights to function effectively, certain obligations must be part of our fabric as a nation.

Citing examples of rights vis-à-vis other rights (e.g., abortion, pitting the right of an unborn against the rights of the expectant mother; freedom of expression on social media versus reasonable limitations on the freedom of speech; the government’s role in providing a safety net for its most vulnerable citizens in contrast to a more laissez faire approach to government), Haass declines in this book to engage in this debate.

Instead, he characterizes our democratic systems as deteriorating, highlighted by the recent (2020) presidential transition from Trump to Biden, which for the first time in our history was neither peaceful nor certain, with its aftermath negatively impacting our country’s ability to address such global concerns as Russia’s attempts to expand its sovereign territory and China’s burgeoning technological dominance.

As an antidote to staunch or at least temper the divisiveness undermining our democracy, Haass establishes compelling rationale for our legal rights to be counter-balanced by certain obligations or habits for citizens to adopt, from being informed about and involved in our political systems, to engaging in compromise (while noting that many politicians consider this a “four-letter word,” he cites President Kennedy, who viewed “compromisers and conciliators [as] faced with the severest tests of political courage as they oppose the extremist views of their constituents”), being civil and shunning violence, to valuing government service, to civic education.

More than merely inspirational, Haass urges all of us to understand the necessity of adopting the 10 obligations which he identifies, to each of which he devotes a chapter in the context of saving our peculiar experiment with democracy.

Wary of being labeled an alarmist, Haass addresses arguments that he is exaggerating the growing risks to our way of life and expectations that our democracy is somehow immune from the internal threats that he clearly identifies.

This book, in a concise 175 pages with extensive notes, should be required reading for all of our elected officials as well as for all of us who are concerned with the future of our country.

• Gary Gehlbach is the senior partner with Ehrmann Gehlbach Badger & Lee, LLC, in Dixon.