Between the Lines: A day off for Election Day
As America spreads democracy abroad, it neglects democracy at home
By Patrick Callahan, senior writer
Posted on November 6, 2006

It’s about this time of year when many people begin to speculate on the effectiveness of our political system. The drama of our election season is played out on the largest of stages through rapid media bombardments courtesy of stampeding political campaigns. We see and hear boisterous candidates and those who critique them on our televisions and radios in the weeks and months leading up to an election. And yet, somehow when the day finally arrives — most Americans stay home or go about their normal business as if it is not our civic duty to participate.

It’s not just in the past few years that turnout has been poor. According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the United States — the cradle of democracy and protector of freedoms — has ranked not first or second, not in the top 10 or 20, not even in the top 100, but 139 in average per capita voter turnout since 1945.

It was freshman year in Professor Eksterowicz’s U.S. Government class when I first heard of the proposal for a national voting holiday, giving the nation a day off for what is truly the most important day for our country in any given year. We already give the nation a holiday for Columbus Day and even for Labor Day — isn’t Election Day at least as significant as these? We have holidays for both Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day, don’t we applaud and celebrate the lives of these people every year for their service and sacrifice in protecting our belief in a democratic society? A society where we utilize our freedom to democratically select the leaders who will make the tough decisions that affect us all — decisions like going to war.

We find ourselves in one of the most trying times in America’s history. Our nation is at war and our political system is under siege. Scandals rock the landscape as corporate America is increasingly found to be strolling hand-in-hand with congressional leaders down the path to corrupt profitability. Our national executive branch has taken away an unprecedented amount of constitutional liberties and has even taken bold steps toward suspending the once-sacred writ of habeas corpus — right to a trial without indefinite detention — not just from enemy combatants but from our own citizens.

The entire world looks to the United States for leadership and guidance and they are increasingly becoming fed up with our hegemonic, isolationist and unilateral tactics across the field of international relations. Citizens from all corners of the world want to be a part of our elections and feel they have a case for being granted such participation due to the astronomical effects of U.S. interests on their respective nations. Our whole planet wants a part in our democratic process, and yet barely a third of our own population cast ballots in the last presidential election.

Our generation will soon hold the reins to our societal future. If we can’t find reason enough to be involved now — how will we ever be actively involved in the future?

We must begin building a generational model of political activism that doesn’t involve isolating one group or another along political or ideological lines, but instead focuses on bringing all groups to the table for productive political discourse that will allow everyone to seek what former President Clinton calls the “Common Ground.” 

Two and half years later, I now sit in Professor Ekserowicz’s U.S. Presidency class and hear him repeatedly explain that the problems we see today are not the result of a Democratic problem, not a Republican problem, but a systemic problem. Something needs to change and getting the rest of the country involved is a good first step.

Patrick Callahan is a junior political science major.