Getting Involved: Red Said, Blue Said

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.