Voters need to step up to the plate to keep democracies ever strong

Six years ago, on a baseball field in Detroit, a federal jurist made a plea to a group of men and women of various nationalities who were about to become U.S. citizens, urging “each and every one of you to register to vote as soon as possible” for the upcoming elections.

“Today all of you taking the oath of allegiance are becoming United States citizens, committed to our government, our system of laws and justice, and our democratic traditions and ideals,” U.S. District Judge David Lawson told those gathered for the naturalization ceremony at Comerica Park, the home of the Detroit Tigers. “And so, as citizens, you have both the privilege and the obligation to ensure that our leadership acts in the interest of all of us.

“And that means that you must take a hand in choosing our leaders, by voting in every election,” the judge said. “Voting – by every American – is vital to the health of our democracy. For if you don’t vote, you will get the leaders you deserve.”

The truth surrounding that statement, and the ramifications it portended, continue to shake a nation that runs the risk of splitting apart at the seams.

Election day is less than four months away and however you view the midterm contests, there is one particularly interesting feature to this year’s polling: the 2022 electorate is expected to be the most ethnically and racially diverse in U.S. history. The fact was particularly evident at Comerica Park that June day in 2016, where the soon-to-be U.S. citizens had begun their lives from various points around the globe, including China, Iraq, India, Mexico, Canada, Korea, and the Philippines.

Of the nearly 240 million people eligible to vote in the U.S., only about 158 million bothered to cast ballots in the November 2020 presidential election, representing a 66 percent turnout, according to Pew Research Center figures. The numbers raise important questions about the nature of “government by the people.”

The supposed hero of the democratic system is the voter, commonly described as the ultimate source of all authority. Yet, the fact that tens of millions of Americans are so unresponsive to the system that they do not vote is the single most remarkable fact about it.

People apparently do not participate because they feel the system holds no benefits for them or are generally apathetic about politics and political issues. Perhaps even more distressing is the fact that Americans are, as a lot, poorly informed. A recent survey showed that only 20 percent of the people polled could name the last three vice presidents of the United States, beginning with the current VP, Kamala Harris. The results were even worse when the topics strayed to state and local politicians, where most Americans were hard-pressed to name more than two of their elected representatives.

Some scholars have argued with conviction that apathy is no real cause for concern and that too much political participation may actually pose dangers to democracy. But for a political system to be democratic, the number of players in the game cannot be limited except by individual choice. It also must not be fully subservient to special interest groups that stand in the way of the will of the people.

In America, public opinion can be a controlling force, especially at the state and local level. One of the primary responsibilities of citizenship is to exercise the rights protected by the Constitution, including that of free speech and dissent.

Activists who work for a cleaner environment, support immigration reform, or oppose development near a historic site, make tangible contributions to society, whatever the merits of their cause. When individuals speak out at the polls, whether in support or dissent, they fulfill an obligation of citizenship, one that all too often is buried in passive indifference.

Last week, Independence Day was celebrated in cities across the U.S. It was a time for patriotic parades, family get-togethers, backyard barbecues, and fireworks displays.

It also served as a grim reminder that gun violence lurks around every street corner, in cities big and small, rich and poor, as evidenced by another mass shooting, this time in an affluent Chicago suburb that had its heart ripped out by a gunman who rained bullets on a July 4th parade.

There are lessons to be learned from both the good and bad of that 2022 version of Independence Day, a summer holiday forever framed by three words – “We the People.”

Those words, the first three in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, serve as the foundation on which the entire document depends. They have been the guiding force behind one of the most enduring democratic systems of government in the world.

They also connect all the constitutional dots, principally, that political power comes from us, “We the People.” If we lose sight of that magnificent inheritance, we will have only ourselves to blame as we sort through the rubble of a democracy in ruins.

Best regards,
Jack Buchanan, President