Citizen vigilance is required because authorities cannot police everything

Evidence

A last reason why widespread civility is needed is that the public authorities cannot hope to identify and sanction all offences against republican laws and norms; ordinary people also have to be committed enough to perform in that role or to support the efforts of the authorities: ordinary people have to maintain the eternal vigilance that constitutes the price of republican liberty. — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 1291

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Coleman’s social-capital point that community monitoring by ordinary members maintains norms. — connects to: Calling communities ‘resilient’ can let authorities evade their support duties — John Drury and Evangelos Ntontis, A SOCIAL IDENTITY MODEL OF COLLECTIVE…, 40; Public authorities cannot police all offences, so citizens must self-monitor; Formal citizenship still required vigilant enforcement to hold meaning — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 740 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Formal citizenship still required vigilant enforcement to hold meaning #corroborates (0.93) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 740
• Political subjection commits citizens to acts they cannot foresee or control #qualifies (0.82)