Kasim Ercan Ekenler
Spcm-420
17.09.2009


Local Politics and Civil Engagement - A Match Made in Heaven


Thesis: The union of civic engagement and local politics provides a way to harness young energy for civic participation and solve the lack of involvement in politics

When I consider the world of politics, I consider it a realm outside of my own world, and foreign. I have an opinion about some things, but not most. My opinion does not seem to matter, and might be based on incorrect facts. Do I really know the truth? If I did know the truth, and understood a way to solve one of our problems, who would listen to me? I do not have enough money to influence a politician through political donations. I do not have "friends in high places." I could write a letter, but isn't the Sierra Club already writing thousands of letters daily? Again, who would listen to me. The world of politics is huge and foreign, and so I should save my money to help someone I know. If I can see the change I effect, then my effort is worthwhile.

What changes can I effect and see the results? Will my personal recycling result in a tangible change? I can reuse a plastic water bottle, and save myself a buck, but does that really help combat global warming? It doesn't feel any cooler! In highschool, I organized a class trip into the mountain town near my home in Tarsus, Turkey. The point of the trip for most was to get out of school. For some it was a nice time to see the mountains. For me, the best part was the clothing and books that we collected for two weeks leading up to the trip and then distributed to the citizens in the small mountain town. It is true that I don't know for sure if what I did helped them. I understood that it is hard to know the change you effect in someone else. But the simple expressions on their faces when we delivered the goods was all the reassurance that I needed. It was a pure joy, a communal sense of love and appreciation that made me understand the change I effected.

In the end politics, is about people. People are politics. To see a real change through politics, you need to know and FEEL how people are effected. That is very hard to do on a large scale. My generation (dotNet) and other young generations (GenXers, etc) have recognized this as we addressed the changes needed in our world today. To effect change, we have chosen to head directly to the source of need, the people. We have chosen civic engagement over political engagement. But I wonder, is political engagement outside of the realm of people? Isn't politics the same as people? On a national level, that seems ridiculous. Politics is politicians, something much different than "people"! Well, I think there is a politics that still is people: local politics. It is hard to be a divisive, manipulating politician when I see you on your morning walk, or when we play in the same City softball league. Local politics is important because it gives our youth an opportunity to gain political identity. While we have chosen civic engagement over the political, we have completely left the political realm, holding no opinion at all. Because the large change that we need can not be dome at food shelters and community building projects alone, we will need our youth to participate on a national level. If we can use our civic aptitude to effect local political change, we can develop a strong political identity in our youth rooted in the lifeblood of politics: people.

Younger generations are willing to participate in civic activities, while they hold negative attitudes toward or undefined opinions of political efforts. Civic engagement is deeply personal, and remains a way to help "people". "Young people are particularly uninvolved - both behaviorally and psychologically - in the world of candidates, campaigns, public policy debates, and the like." (Zukin 50) When they do participate, it is through civic engagement. This pattern is nothing new, as the youth often avoid the "rough and tumble" world politics, and choose community service when extending their social lives beyond the scope of their friends and family. But a generational shift may be underway in which the gap between civic and political engagement is widening; voter turnout for younger generations is decreasing while volunteer service is increasing. (Zukin 50) This is caused by many factors, but the minimization of public voice is the most troubling. Public voice, or direct communication with a politician or political group, is being threatened by the devolution of government in favor of corporate power. the voice of executives has become the loudest and most important voice in national politics. This is alarming because "public voice"is one of the best indicators of engagement in other areas. (Zukin 54) Because their opinion "does not matter", the youth have begun "tuning out" of politics. The gap between the "cognitive engagement" of younger and older generations widening, but younger generations are less involved than previous generations were at their age. 60% of students in 1966 felt keeping up to date with politics was important, whereas only 34% felt the same way in 2004.

Local politics, as opposed to national politics, operate on a scale in which public voice can effect change. Because the problem seems systemic, it makes sense that younger generations choose to interact with the system in a different way. They do not attempt to change the system (which is impossible, anyway, without a voice). Young generations have chosen civic engagement in greater than numbers than are expected of age age group (netGen and Gen Xers) with less to gain from such activities, and their rates of participation are comparable or better than all other generations. Zukin argues that "This is an impressive hallmark, and one that portends continuity in the tradition of civic involvement." (Zukin 73) The young generations want to be involved, we want to effect change, but we are disenchanted by the political arena in high numbers. Local government can provide an arena that combines a community morality, the same morality that appeals to those engaged civically. In fact, the word "civic" seems to perfectly combine ideas of community and local politics. Jay Griffiths, in his article on the Transition Initiative (http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/4792), doscussed how the community allows a scale of morality that is superior to both individual morality, which is highly restricted, and national morality, which is free enough from restrictions and accountability to allow genocide. It is the national scale of morality that has led to disillusionment among the young.

Possibly the most important contribution of involvement in local politics would be the building individual political identities in younger generations. The gap between civic and political engagement in younger generations has been heavily linked to both a lack of interest and a lack of understanding. This cognitive indifference would be washed away by local participation in politics. If politics again becomes about people, and effecting change that we can see and feel, we will have solved the problem of political indifference in our youth.

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