This Vote's for You!

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What if we looked at the issue of political alienation from the perspective that most Americans aren't stupid and what they care about is not insignificant? Maybe people stay home on election day for reasons that make sense, at least to them. They're sick of campaigns conducted primarily through vicious TV ads. They distrust candidates who are bankrolled by craven political financiers. They don't see much difference between Democrats and Republicans on the issues that matter most in their lives. Indeed, they rarely see politicians even addressing these issues.

While this paints a stark picture of our political system, it may explain why voting rates have dramatically declined over the past century. It also offers us a clear starting place to launch a movement to resuscitate democracy in America. We can organize millions of citizens to get big money out of politics, to regulate TV ads, and to force politicians to talk about what's really going on across the country! All it will take is a massive turnout of voters next election day . . .

And that's the problem. To get more people to vote, we need to reform our electoral system; and to reform our electoral system, we need to get more people to vote. Low voter turnout suits campaign funders, corporate lobbyists, and entrenched politicians just fine, and they fiercely fight all efforts to significantly reform how we finance and operate our election campaigns.

So what do we do? Hang up our dreams and go home? That's just what defenders of the political status quo are hoping for -- indeed, planning on. Reinvigorating the American electoral system with a new dose of democracy is the most crucial political cause of the 21st century, one that will need our hard work for many years to come.

A good first step is to concentrate our efforts on reforming election day. Here are a few simple ideas for getting more people out to the polls, even without dramatic changes anywhere else in our political system.

1. Free Beer and Other Ways to Make Democracy a Party

When you think about it, elections could be one of America's great social occasions. You gather with neighbors to vote. What better excuse for a party? Set up a keg, or an espresso machine, or a table of desserts in a room next to the voting machines. The first one's free to everyone with an "I Voted" sticker. Who wouldn't want to stop by for some conversation and refreshments? (Paid for, of course, by community organizations, not candidates or parties!)

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