Keeping score on the promises

Most folks wield one tool for keeping elected officials accountable.

That's voting, which by itself is not enough to construct the kind of country (or state or city) you or I might want.

Tavis Smiley, the public-radio and TV host and activist, is pushing the idea of holding politicians accountable continuously from day one of their time in office.

There are a zillion interest groups that try to do that (on their issues) already, and it is one of the functions we expect of journalists.

But Smiley says it is everyone's civic duty.

He'll be talking about that tonight at the downtown Seattle Public Library, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

His thoughts on the subject are part of his new book, "Accountable: Making America As Good As Its Promise."

Voting is the cornerstone of democracy, but I think it has some drawbacks.

An official serves an entire term before most citizens have their say about how he or she has done.

Voting is also a blunt instrument that can register only yes or no.

And by the time we vote, most of us may be a little fuzzy on the details of an officeholder's performance.

A lot of times, voters decide between candidates based on party or other endorsements.

That can be hard to do with nonpartisan posts, which matters more now. In November, King County voters approved a charter amendment making council members, the executive and assessor nonpartisan offices.

But what if we were to keep score all along and give feedback from day one?

That's Smiley's idea.

First you have to know what you care about most. Politicians make a lot of promises, so you mostly want to track the ones that mean something to you.

Smiley has a list of 10, which he put forth several years ago in "The Covenant with Black America."

That book reached the top of The New York Times best-seller list, which suggested black people weren't the only folks interested in that list.

Making sure Americans have access to high-quality health care and education, and to well-paid jobs topped his list. Who doesn't what those things? And yet they remain unrealized promises for far too many of us.

"It was clear to me that a progressive community outside of black America was embracing this first text as a progressive agenda for moving America forward," Smiley said when I talked with him Tuesday.

"Every time I come to Seattle I look out at the audience there and I always feel like I'm looking at a microcosm of the world."

Smiley wrote a second book (without "black" in the title), "The Covenant In Action," dealing with how those 10 goals could be reached. "Accountable" is the third and last book in the series.

"Promises made ought to be promises kept," he said.

The book lays out everything President Obama said about the 10 issues as a candidate.

There is a checklist and a report card in the book. So far Obama has moved quickly to keep several of his campaign pledges. He's closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay, has pushed through part of his economic plan and reversed Bush's policy on stem-cell research.

The illustration on the cover is of Obama, but the image is a mosaic of smaller pictures of local and national public officials.

It's not just about Obama, Smiley said. In fact, it's not just about politicians. It is ultimately about holding ourselves accountable as citizens.

Politicians at all levels will do a better job if we work harder to keep informed and give them feedback, and if we help make the things on our own lists happen.

Democracy shouldn't take a break between elections.

Jerry Large's column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 206-464-3346 or jlarge@seattletimes.com.