.jpg)
How can we increase participation in civic affairs?
The Blue Perspective: Erin Egan
I have never considered myself a political person. But when the twins were born, I remember feeling like I needed to take more responsibility for the world they would be growing up in. I suddenly wanted to be more connected to our community, engaged in our city and state, and knowledgeable about our country and the world. Finn and Cole raised the stakes; for me, they made the personal political.
So I left the practice of law to run Colorado operations for Democrats Work, a non-profit organization that mobilizes Democrats to do community service projects, branded as Democrats. In the short term, our goals are to serve community needs and to show our neighbors that Democrats are putting our values into action year-round, not just at election time. The long-term goal is to build a politics of service—one that values deeds over words. In the last year and a half, more than 750 Colorado Democrats have come together to plant trees, paint out graffiti, clean parks and trails, organize care packages for troops, maintain schools, serve at soup kitchens and food banks, make Valentines for veterans, and much more. That feels pretty good!
I suspect that many folks out there would like to participate in the civic life of their communities and country. I also suspect that many of these people find “traditional politics” to be distasteful. If the options for participation are supporting candidates who only ask us for money, cold calling neighbors we don’t know, or just showing up to vote, I can understand why people don’t get too involved.
For me, getting engaged required that “politics” become more relevant. If we define politics as only the stuff that happens in Washington, DC (or, more accurately, doesn’t happen!), then it’s hard to feel like politics are connected to our daily lives. But it is easy for me to get on board with a politics that recognizes community service as an integral part of political engagement and returns politics to its roots: where political organizations directly serve the community and citizens are empowered to take action.
Fortunately, I am not suggesting that everyone needs to birth multiples in order to feel the tug of public service! What I am saying is that to broaden participation in civic affairs, we need to broaden what it means to be involved in politics.
The Red Perspective: Kathryn Biber Chen
As a political-science-major-turned-election-lawyer, I’ve spent countless classroom hours listening to professors wax poetic about this very issue. Some favored mandatory voting with fines for noncompliance. Others suggested proportional representation or instant runoff voting. A few believed in public funding for campaigns. Then there was Geoff, the goateed teaching assistant assigned to my freshman American government class, who dismissed the entire issue as “good government garbage.” His theory went something like this: “I don’t care about the hobbies of most American voters, so why should they care about mine?” The class was captivated—doe-eyed freshmen are easily impressed, I suppose.
Despite Geoff’s arrogance and his propensity to wear the same wrinkled khaki pants every day, there is a kernel of truth to his theory. Those of us interested in politics are prone to wringing our hands and wondering why our fellow citizens are not equally obsessed with appropriations bills and C-SPAN schedules. The truth is that people have more important things on their minds—putting food on the table, driving to soccer games, and making sure their kids don’t get into trouble. Political participation is important, but so are all the other things that concern them. And we political hacks have no right to imply otherwise.
Yet, declining civic involvement is a worrisome trend. The fewer citizens who monitor government affairs and help kick corrupt and unresponsive politicians out of office, the more powerful and inaccessible government will become. So how do we solve the problem?
There are no easy answers, but here are a few of my thoughts. First, people will be drawn to participate in public affairs if they are asked to do so in meaningful ways. It used to be that to help a candidate in Iowa, you needed to travel there and knock on doors. Now, you can receive a call list via email and spend an afternoon making GOTV calls from the comfort of your own living room. Candidates and parties should do more of this kind of outreach. Second, big ideas actually do motivate voters to get involved. Whether it’s the Gingrich Contract with America, Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you,” or Obama’s “Yes we can” manifesto, voters are looking for new ways of thinking, not wonky piecemeal proposals. Our parties and candidates must do better at giving this to them.
During this election season, DivineCaroline is presenting a twice-monthly column on politics from two points of view: one red, one blue. Each month you can read what Democrat Erin Egan and Republican Kathryn Biber Chen have to say about the issues. To make sure you never miss a Red Said, Blue Said column, just click on the author’s name at the top of the story, then select “Be notified when writer publishes” at the top of the page. We’ll send you an email as soon as a new column is published.