1.7 What Can I Do?

This feature opens opportunities for thinking about a wide variety of individual political engagement. Most social scientists assume politicians respond to their constituents in much the same way business owners respond to their customers—they respond to the threat of exit, or the ability to “vote with one’s feet,” as the economists say. In the political realm, threat of exit is represented by your ability to withdraw your vote from an incumbent, to withdraw your membership from a political party or group, or in the case of the media, the ability to tune out or switch networks. Exiting is an easy option, but quitting keeps citizens from using their actions and voices by working for a group, party, or candidate or attempting to influence their leaders or fellow citizens. As a college student with multiple constraints on your time, the easiest way to engage in politics is to vote. This book should help increase your knowledge of American politics and institutions so you can participate more effectively. Fortunately, for those who want to become more engaged, the more demanding forms of political participation, such as writing letters or working for a candidate, usually have greater impacts on political outcomes and hence greater political payoffs. Those who have the time and energy can participate actively through interest groups, political parties, or social movements. With less effort, one can be a loyal supporter of a particular group, party, or individual politician. Lastly, one can stay mostly aloof from political involvement by remaining independent. Like a picky customer, one can show approval or displeasure of the system’s outcomes by giving or withdrawing support from the candidates and parties. Each of these levels of involvement can be valid in their own context.

Most Americans, whether through a process of socialization or experience, develop a sense of attachment to the society and its government. Unlike attachments based on blind faith, political loyalty is grounded in the belief that, over time, the right turns made by government will more than balance the wrong turns. Of course, this optimism may simply be a rationalization (it’s not easy to move to another country), but whether it is a consequence of reasoned calculation or hopefulness, we acknowledge that some features of the American political system are resistant to popular control. That is to say, when it comes to the decisions of the Supreme Court, the bureaucracy, or the consequences of federalism, a sensible strategy is to stay informed, remain loyal, and hope for the best. Fortunately, plenty of research demonstrates that despite its dysfunctions, the American political system performs remarkably well. Over time, social and economic changes, partisan realignments, and social movements have moved the society closer to its democratic ideals. More often than not, politics often works like a competitive market such that there is some value in allowing political entrepreneurs to do their jobs while citizens stand ready to hold their representatives accountable. Sooner or later, things work out or become subject to a popular referendum when citizens can use  their voices to change things for the better.