Citizen Participation

Overview
NDI conducts programs to increase informed citizen participation in political processes and to establish strong
civic cultures, because the citizen is the heart of a functioning democracy. Citizens give life and meaning to
principles and institutions. For democracy to develop and endure, citizens need to exercise their rights and
responsibilities. Without the active involvement of citizens in political life, government poer can be abused
and the basic rights and freedoms of democracy can go unrealized. !ecause a successful democracy re"uires
informed participation, citizens must first understand ideas about citizenship, politics and government. #hey
need $noledge to ma$e decisions about policy preferences and the proper use of authority, along ith the
s$ills to voice their concerns and to hold government officials accountable. %nd then, they need to ant to
exercise their rights, and they need the political space to do so ithout unreasonable resistance or harassment
from authorities or others.
&romoting civic education, policy advocacy and community organizing are some approaches used by NDI to
help increase citizen participation. 'oever, even as democratic development proceeds and opportunities for
citizen participation expand, citizens may still feel more and more disconnected because trends li$e
globalization and economic restructuring can ta$e decisionma$ing aay from the hands of citizens. For these
reasons, empoering citizens must mean more than encouraging participation or providing opportunities for
participation. It also must mean helping citizens develop the tools to solve complex problems, to or$
collectively, and to become leaders in their on right. (oreover, it means helping develop appropriate relations
beteen citizens and government institutions, political parties and even international organizations.
The Killing of Kitty Genovese
Her public slaying in Queens becomes a symbol of
Americans' failure to get involved
By Michael Dorman
It was just after 3 a.m.
A red Fiat rolled slowly through the darkness into a parking
space adjacent to the Long Island ail oad station in !ew
"ardens. #he young woman $ehind the wheel emerged
from the car and locked it. %he $egan the &''(foot walk
toward her apartment house at )*(+' Austin %t.
But then she spotted a man standing along her route.
Apparently afraid, she changed direction and headed
toward the intersection of Austin and Lefferts Boule-ard ((
where there was a police call $o..
%uddenly, the man o-ertook her and gra$$ed her. %he
screamed. esidents of near$y apartment houses turned on
their lights and threw open their windows. #he woman
screamed again/ 001h, my "od, he sta$$ed me2 3lease help me244
A man in a window shouted/ 00Let that girl alone.44 #he attacker walked away. Apartment lights went out and
windows slammed shut. #he -ictim staggered toward her apartment. But the attacker returned and sta$$ed her again.
A3 3hoto
Kitty Genovese
00I4m dying244 she cried.
5indows opened again. #he attacker entered a car and dro-e away. 5indows closed, $ut the attacker soon came
$ack again. 6is -ictim had crawled inside the front door of an apartment house at )*(7* Austin %t. 6e found her
sprawled on the floor and sta$$ed her still again. #his time he killed her.
It was not until 3/8' that morning (( March &3, &97: (( that a neigh$or of the -ictim called police. 1fficers arri-ed
two minutes later and found the $ody. #hey identified the -ictim as ;atherine "eno-ese, *), who had $een returning
from her jo$ as manager of a $ar in 6ollis. <eigh$ors knew her not as ;atherine $ut as !itty.
!itty "eno-ese/ It was a name that would $ecome sym$olic in the pu$lic mind for a dark side of the national
character. It would stand for Americans who were too indifferent or too frightened or too alienated or too self(
a$sor$ed to 00get in-ol-ed44 in helping a fellow human $eing in dire trou$le. A term 00the "eno-ese syndrome44
would $e coined to descri$e the attitude.
Detecti-es in-estigating "eno-ese4s murder disco-ered that no fewer than 3) of her neigh$ors had witnessed at least
one of her killer4s three attacks $ut had neither come to her aid nor called the police. #he one call made to the police
came after "eno-ese was already dead.
Assistant ;hief Insp. Frederick Lussen, commander of =ueens detecti-es, said that nothing in his *8 years of police
work had shocked him so much as the apathy encountered on the "eno-ese murder. 00As we ha-e reconstructed the
crime, the assailant had three chances to kill this woman during a 38(minute period,44 Lussen said. 00If we had $een
called when he first attacked, this woman might not $e dead now.44
>.pressions of outrage cascaded not only from pu$lic officials and pri-ate citi?ens in the <ew @ork area $ut from
across the country. 5hen detecti-es asked "eno-ese4s neigh$ors why they had not taken action, many said they had
$een afraid or had not wanted to get in-ol-ed. But Lt. Bernard Aaco$s, in charge of the in-estigation, asked/ 005here
they are in their homes, near phones, why should they $e afraid to call the policeB44
Madeline 6artmann, a nati-e of France, was 7) at the time of the murder and li-ed in the $uilding where "eno-ese
died. 1n the *'th anni-ersary of the murder, she said in an inter-iew she did not feel $ad a$out failing to call the
police. 00%o many, many CotherD times in the night, I heard screaming,44 she said. 00I4m not the police and my >nglish
speaking is not perfect.44
#here was no law, police officials conceded, that reEuired someone witnessing a crime to report it to police. But they
contended that morality should o$lige a witness to do so.
%i. days after the "eno-ese murder, police arrested a suspect (( 5inston Moseley, *9, a $usiness(machine operator
who li-ed with his wife and two children in 1?one 3ark. Moseley had no criminal record. But detecti-es said he
swiftly confessed to killing not only "eno-ese $ut also two other women.
Moseley said he had 00an uncontrolla$le urge to kill.44 6e told detecti-es he prowled the streets at night while his
wife, >li?a$eth, was at work. 00I chose women to kill $ecause they were easier and didn4t fight $ack,44 Moseley said.
#hree months after "eno-ese4s death, Moseley went on trial for her murder in %tate %upreme ;ourt in =ueens. 6e
pleaded insanity and testified in painstaking detail a$out how he had stalked and sta$$ed "eno-ese to satisfy his
supposedly uncontrolla$le urge. 1n Aune &&, &97:, a jury found him guilty. #he following month, he was sentenced
$y Austice A. Irwin %hapiro to die in the electric chair at %ing %ing prison. 005hen I see this monster, I wouldn4t
hesitate to pull the switch myself,44 the judge said.
But in &97+ the %tate ;ourt of Appeals reduced the punishment to life imprisonment on the ground that %hapiro had
erred in refusing to admit e-idence on Moseley4s mental condition at a pre(sentence hearing.
A year later, taken from prison to a Buffalo hospital for minor surgery, Moseley struck a prison guard and escaped.
6e o$tained a gun, held fi-e persons hostage, raped one of them and sEuared off for a showdown with FBI agents in
an apartment $uilding. <eil 5elch, agent in charge of the Buffalo FBI office, entered the second(floor apartment
where Moseley made his stand. 5elch and Moseley pointed guns at each other for half an hour as they negotiated.
Finally, Moseley surrendered.
Moseley4s periodic reEuests for parole ha-e repeatedly $een denied. During one parole hearing in &9):, Moseley
-olunteered that he had written "eno-ese4s relati-es a letter 00to apologi?e for the incon-enience I caused.44
A parole commissioner responded acidly/ 00#hat4s a good way to say it. #hey were incon-enienced.44
Moseley also told the $oard the murder was as difficult for him as his -ictim. 00For a -ictim outside, it4s a one(time
or one(hour or one(minute affair,44 he said. 00But, for the person who4s caught, it4s fore-er.44
In &998, seeking a new trial, Moseley o$tained a hearing in Brooklyn federal court. %ome of "eno-ese4s relati-es,
una$le to $ring themsel-es to attend the original trial, appeared at the hearing. "eno-ese4s sister, %usan 5akeman,
said outside the courtroom/ 005e don4t $lame the people who were there that night and might ha-e heard her crying.
1nly one person killed my sister, and he should die the way she did.44
#he court denied Moseley4s petition. 6e is now con-ict <o. 7:A'&'* at the "reat Meadow state prison in
;omstock, <.@.
1-er the years, there ha-e $een -arious scholarly studies of 00the "eno-ese syndrome.44 At a three(day ;atherine
"eno-ese Memorial ;onference on Bad %amaritanism at Fordham Fni-ersity in &9):, ;ity Fni-ersity of <ew @ork
psychology professor %tanley Milgram capsuli?ed the Euestions raised $y the "eno-ese murder.
00#he case touched on a fundamental issue of the human condition, our primordial nightmare,44 Milgram said. 00If we
need help, will those around us stand around and let us $e destroyed or will they come to our aidB Are those other
creatures out there to help us sustain our life and -alues, or are we indi-idual flecks of dust just floating around in a
-acuumB44
Michael Dorman is a freelance writer
ASSIGN!NT"
Discuss on a separate sheet of paper the importance of $alancing a
citi?enGs rights and responsi$ilities.