Everyday Maker

An everyday maker is an ideal typical model of democratic citizenship in a governance society where voluntary organizations, firms, and citizens work closely together with public authorities in the governing of society. The emergence of the governance society has changed the image of what it means to be a democratic citizen from that of being a spectator to that of being a co-producer of governance. Traditionally, a democratic citizen has been perceived as a spectator who critically observes how governance processes are being performed by elected elites, public administrators, and professionals to make a sound and qualified judgment on Election Day. This image of the citizen as a critical spectator fits well with the traditional institutions of representative democracy and their focus on voting as the primary form of political participation. However, in a governance society, a multitude of alternative channels of influence are available that, in one way or the other, grant affected citizens, groups, and organizations direct access to participating in the governing process. Consequently, voting is being downgraded in the construction of what democratic citizenship means. New images of citizenship emerge in which it is not considered enough to participate in the traditional institutions of representative democracy to be a good democratic citizen. Citizens are also expected to take an active part in governance processes that affect them. The more directly you are affected, the more you are expected to participate. The image of the democratic citizen is becoming that of the coproducer of governance.

The everyday maker is an ideal-typical model of the democratic citizenship that emerges in a governance society. The ideal-type has been constructed by Henrik Bang and Eva Sørensen on the basis of an empirical study of images of democratic citizenship in Denmark. Empirically speaking, the everyday makers vote, but are not seriously interested in “big” politics and parliamentary democracy. They are more interested in governance processes that have direct relevance for their everyday lives at home, in their neighborhood, at work, and in their ongoing interaction with various public and private institutions. When they act, they do so to solve concrete problems. They are not interested in more abstract or ideological political involvement. Their active engagement is driven by a feeling of necessity and responsibility: “This problem needs to be solved and I feel obliged to do my share.” Everyday makers are more active than the voter but less active than the politician. They engage themselves either ad hoc in a short but concentrated period, or part time over a longer period. Everyday makers insist that their engagement in concrete problem solving related to their everyday lives is a political engagement. Hence, they reject a narrow perception of politics as something that has to do with party politics and ideology and that takes place in the formal institutions of representative democracy.