When I opened up the local section of yesterday’s Inquirer, I was struck by the juxtaposition of two stories. One dealt with the recent erection of a cell phone tower right near the border of two townships. Neighbors in the township adjacent to the tower are a bit irked that the tower was constructed without any notice or consultation on their part. Meanwhile, the story right next to the tower photo was about Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum threatening to hold up projects that benefit New Jersey if New Jersey does not agree to a long-discussed, long-delayed dredging of the Delaware River in order to make it accessible to more ships.
What struck me is how in both of these cases the organization of political units was ill-suited to actually including everyone affected by the situations involved. In both cases, there are multi-jurisdiction bodies that are designed to help mediate disputes and keep things running smoothly. But public officials and citizens don’t really have much loyalty to, say, the Delaware River Port Authority – they have it to Pennsylvania or New Jersey. Without the ability to get past those kinds of identifications, democracy can’t function as well as it should.