The last question on my political science final in college was refreshingly, unexpectedly broad. It was, "How are politics relevant to you? Explain." I still think that should be the last question on the final in just about any class. When a class's subject matter is worth learning, you should be able to explain, by the end of the semester or school year, why it matters. The answer I would write today is a combination of what I wrote in the early '90s and how I've come to feel since then:
Politics are relevant not only to me but to every citizen. When you vote, you ask a president, senator, governor, mayor, or other elected official to be your voice. You ask that official to improve the quality of living for your fellow citizens and you. These improvements take many forms. A road or bridge on which you drive each day might be falling apart. Citizens don't have the authority to start paving the roads themselves, but by reaching the right ears, they can set the repairs in motion. You might believe that certain judges don't dispense sufficient justice in their courtrooms. Citizens can't march into the courtroom and start issuing verdicts, but they can vote on which judges should be retained. You might believe, as many citizens do, that everyone deserves access to affordable, reasonable health care. No one, after all, deserves to get sick. Citizens can't decree what their health care premiums or bills will cost, but by electing a president and congresspersons sympathetic to their cause, the Affordable Care Act becomes law, and millions of formerly uninsured people benefit. That bridge, those judges, your health, and so many other facets of life improve or deteriorate because of decisions that elected officials make.
My American history teacher in high school used to say, "Even when
you don't vote, you still vote. You vote for or against an issue or
candidate, or you vote, 'I don't care.'" If you didn't vote because you thought the results of the election were in the bag, or if you squandered your vote on a third party candidate who had no realistic chance of winning, I hope you can live with the consequences. The rest of us will have to.
