CIVIC PARTICIPATION

Protestors gather at the statehouse on Nov. 19, 2019 in support of RedforEd, an organization to improve teacher’s pay. Photo by Ben Grantonic.

Fixing a flaw

Civic inactivity inhibits personal and communal gains

Carter Hanefeld hanefcar000@hsestudents.org

Low voter turnout is symptomatic of the =nited States’ flawed democracy. According to the Democracy Index, that means that while our government guarantees basic civil liberties and rights, we also have some issues, such as low voter turnout.

+66 finds that only  of eligible voters actually voted, a 20-year low for presidential elections. However, the 21 midterms did have a -year high for midterm elections° at  . This pales in comparison to other countries, but there appears to be a major disconnect between researchers and citizens about what causes low turnout.

A Center for American Progress study claims a deficit in civic education causes political inactivity, the evidence for this being that only 2 of eighth graders performed at or above the level of proficiency on the 6ational )ssessment of Educational 8rogress civics exam. ?hile looking on the national scale corroborates this conclusion, looking into the local perspective seems to yield different results.

“I’m not interested in government because it doesn’t really affect me right now,” senior *ryce :obertson said.

?hile certainly not universal, this opinion holds far more sway over the student body than one might think. )ccording to the 4ondon School of Economics and Political Science, the most common reason for civic inaction was disillusionment, closely followed by apathy and lack of personal impact. Here is why that thinking should change.

First, disillusionment is extremely prevalent in both teenagers and adults. )ccording to 8ew :esearch,  of )mericans who did not vote in the 21 election felt that their vote “didn’t matter,” or that they did not like any of the candidates, and it is easy to understand why. 7ur electoral process is rife with corporate money and two candidates in recent memory have won the election but lost the popular vote. Those two alone could lead any person to question the system.

There is one problem with this thinking" those who do not voice their opinion in the political process only perpetuate the status Yuo. The only thing that makes somebody’s vote not count is by not voting, but when voters actually make an effort to utilibe their voice, the status Yuo changes. Last year, three Democrats claimed upset victories in staunchly :epublican Hamilton +ounty. ,espite the immense odds, ,emocrats broke that mindset, voted and made the change they wanted to see. 6o matter what party you side with, that shows the power your vote has. However, by looking at the local level, the problem of civic disinterest is solved in both apathy and personal impact.

“There’s no Democrat or Republican way to pave a road,” Mayor Scott .adness said at a meeting with the ?e the 8eople Team.

?hile this line may seem cheesy, it is true. National politics is important, but local politics decide how schools are funded, what roads are paved and how to improve day to day life on a micro scale. .or those who are disillusioned, look to the HSE School *oard meeting last year, where hundreds of student advocates showed up, voiced their opinion and were able to bring about change. .or others who do not feel that civic engagement has any personal impact, and are unconvinced by the previous example, the HSE school board is still debating on whether or not to change start times. If you have a strong opinion about it, tell the school board, and you have taken your first steps into a larger world.