With all of the political happenings in the news today, one would think voter participation and engagement in the United States is at all-time highs. Sadly, though, this is not the case. In comparison with the other nations of the world, the United States is remarkably low in rankings such as voter turnout. Minnesota is thankfully an exception with its high engagement, but other parts of the country are not as active. What is causing these problems, and what can be done to solve them?
The first issue is with education. Many studies have been done with older and younger Americans, with essentially the same results. Most Americans do not know much about our country’s history or how the government works. Not knowing who the 32nd president was is slightly more historical, but a lack of knowledge about what the President can or cannot do is extremely dangerous. This is especially becoming a problem with our increasingly personality-driven presidential campaigns, where candidates make a number of ambitious promises they may not be able to constitutionally achieve.
The next issue is with voter engagement and turnout. As a person who takes a casual interest in foreign political happenings, as well as our domestic news here at home, I have been taking a careful look at turnout figures in other countries compared to the United States. One in particular I found astonishing was that of Iceland. During its election of Oct. 29, 2016, that island nation had its lowest turnout ever in a parliamentary election. That number, just over 79 percent, would be an amazing record here in the United States. Our own presidential election had slightly lower turnout than 2012, with a little under 55 percent of eligible Americans casting their ballots.
So why are these issues so important? When a nation’s populace is uninformed and apathetic about political participation, things have historically not gone so well. We need to make a conscious effort to increase our knowledge of and involvement in civics. This argument, though, isn’t always a fair one because many people do not have the time to be as involved as they would maybe like. This to me suggests we also need to make the political system more accessible to everyday Americans, and this can be achieved through some relatively simple steps.
To start, civics should be elevated to an equal status to the other core classes in education. Though a part of social-studies education, civics is dangerously absent in standardized testing. Many tests such as the MCAs or MAPs tests are required for high-school graduation, and tests including the ACTs and SATs are taken by many college-bound students. Their common issue is none of them has a civics section or sub-test. While government classes are required in some places, this is only one year of a class. Adding civics to tests would increase the subject’s importance and value to study, hopefully increasing public knowledge.
We can also take a look at our founding documents. Unlike many things today, the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were written in a very straightforward manner. That reflects the Founding Fathers’ hope for a government held in check by informed and vigilant citizens. After all, the power in this country ultimately rests in us. Having a pocket copy of the Constitution on a desk or a phone is relatively inexpensive, and the drafters organized it into sections for easy reference.
Civics is important because at the end of the day, an informed populace will lead to a better government, and better lives for every citizen of our country. Things will only get better in Washington, D.C. and on our city councils if we decide to do something about it. We are extremely lucky to live in a country that allows us many freedoms, but we also need to be careful to preserve those freedoms through strong citizen involvement. In a republic, the government is only as good as we demand it to be.
Connor Kockler is a Sauk Rapids-Rice High School student. He enjoys writing, politics and news, among other interests.