How politically savvy are you?

Tom Choske

GOTV. “Get Out the Vote.” This should be familiar to members of our generation. In 2004 and 2006, campaigns such as “Vote Or Die” sought to get us off of our Xboxes and Facebook.com and into our local polling precinct. Every election cycle, celebrities and political elites get together to encourage us Generation Yers to participate in our democracy.

However, what does participation really mean? At a speech at Georgetown University last month, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean claimed these programs worked, with “participation” of 18 to 29-year-olds up 61 percent. But these statistics define “participation” as people who cast ballots.

At the same time in 2006, we saw affirmative action, a standby principle of civil rights for Democrats and Republicans for almost 40 years, overturned in Michigan. In 2004, the Defense of Marriage Act dealt a blow to both homosexual and heterosexual couples by denying either group the right to enter into a less-than-marital living arrangement. The years 2004-06 saw lawmakers such as Randy “Duke” Cunningham in California and Bob Ney of Ohio get re-elected, while the full extent of the Jack Abramoff lobbying ring was just starting to come to light. Howard Dean’s 2004 grassroots candidacy, which was targeted at college students, was knocked out by a billionaire whose campaign relied heavily on the older, “traditional” base of the Democratic Party.

How is this possible then? If young people are truly being “mobilized,” then why do corrupt politicians keep getting re-elected? Why do campaigns geared toward our generation fizzle out? Why do ballot initiatives pass that overturn the progressive social change our ancestors fought for, or are so poorly worded that they hurt people not even affiliated with the issue?

Straw poll time. Have you ever been to the state capitol or local city hall of your own free will? If so, one point for you. Have you ever sent a letter to an official — without having your civics teacher force you — to voice your opinion on an issue? Two points for you. Have you ever researched a candidate not running for president, or a ballot proposal to form your own opinion of it? Give yourself three points for this one. Now, the $64,000 question: Have you ever volunteered or donated to a campaign or an organization supporting a platform you agree with? A whopping five points for those of you who have.

Total up the points. How many do you have? This is the true test of political participation. To those of you with three or more points: Congratulations, your civics class did not fail you. These people know what avenues were built into our democratic system to allow them the ability to voice their opinions besides voting. To anyone with more than three points, you are great examples of citizens taking the power of government into their own hands.

However, there’s another category: those with one point or less. Unfortunately, it seems most college students (and adults for that matter) fall into this category. While they may vote, they are uninformed on the issues or candidates. Many may have an apathetic view of government and lament how corrupt politicians are. This is always crystallized for me by the “George Bush is stupid” Democrats — people who know nothing except the mantra that President Bush is stupid, and think they should vote for whoever has a “D” next to their name.

Is this truly participation? Have we been deluded into thinking voting is all that is needed for a democratic government to function? If vague mantras, partisan politics and glitzy media campaigns are all people have to base their vote off of, no wonder we have seen our government become so ineffective. GOTV shouldn’t focus on getting people into the polls; it should be about educating the electorate and making up for where our civics education has failed.

Sandra Day O’Connor wrote, “One way of getting people to protect our system is to be sure that they understand it.” In 2008, our system will be in danger. Do we re-elect the same party hacks who have ridden roughshod over our nation for the past decade, or do we take our country back? In this struggle, GOTV is not the answer. Real democratic engagement and participation is. Let’s show the talking heads in Washington, D.C. and the rest of the world what we really think of the government by getting involved in our democracy and fighting for real change.

Tom Choske is a State News columnist and an international relations and German senior. Reach him at chosketh@msu.edu.

Published on Monday, March 24, 2008