By the time you read this, we’ll be on the eve of caucuses and primaries for the 2008 presidential election (at least, that’s true for those of us in the USA).

Eleven months from now, we’ll be gathered around our TV sets watching states light up red or blue on the map as the commentators report the voting results. For me, that’s among the most interesting evenings of television there can be.

Still, I’m reminded that citizenship means more than watching with interest as events unfold. It means getting involved. My eighth-grade civics teacher, Sister Jacinta (I went to a Catholic school), said something I never forgot: That those who don’t take part in government should forfeit their right to complain about it.

Into the action

Let’s face it: Griping about the government is a favorite pastime. We do it over the dinner table, in coffee shops, on street corners, on car trips, just about anyplace where people get together. It’s only a relative few of us who quit griping and do something.

The beauty of our system is that an individual can make a difference in many ways. Staying informed and voting — that’s fine, but it’s only the most basic form of participation. Others include backing a candidate as a volunteer, serving on an appointive board or commission, and running for local office.

These days, candidates are scarce for many municipal, county and school board positions. Look at a list of officials up for election in a given year and you’ll find a majority of races are uncontested. In part that’s because people feel the incumbent is doing a good job. But it’s also because people lack the energy or conviction to run.

For my part, while I could be more active, I have been elected to a school board, served on a plan commission, canvassed for candidates, and once served as a ward captain during an election. Each experience was rewarding in its own way.

Pen in hand

So in a meaningful way I’ve taken Sister Jacinta’s advice. And she wasn’t my only advisor. A college buddy and roommate was a state officer in a political party youth organization. He once brought me up short when, in a dorm room conversation, I complained about how difficult it was for anyone to influence government policy.

I still remember him, puffing on his pipe, leaning back in his chair, and saying, “You know, it’s really deceptively simple. If everyone would write their congressman about issues that concerned them, the government would have to be more responsive.”

Many years later, that sounds simplistic and a bit naive, but it’s not without merit. I do write my state and federal representatives and have been known on occasion to call my alderman or county supervisor to express an opinion. When I do so, it’s in my old friend’s memory.

For the industry

How about you? Do you complain about the government? Or do you get involved and take action? When you own a business on which the government has an impact, it’s all the more important to be a participant — not a spectator.

The onsite industry across the country faces all manner of changes in laws and regulations. Onsite professionals, alone and through their associations, have had a great deal to do with promoting responsible rules in many states. More voices would only make the industry more effective.

And of course there is much to be said for getting active on behalf of your own beliefs, wherever they may fall on the political spectrum.

At every level, our country is built on the principle of self-government. Elihu Root, secretary of state under President Theodore Roosevelt and a U.S. senator from 1909-15, spoke eloquently about the importance of citizen participation.

“Politics is the practical exercise of self-government,” he said, “and someone has to attend to it if we are to have self-government. The principal ground of reproach against any American citizen should be that he is not a politician.”

Or more simply, to paraphrase Pogo of comic strip fame, “We have met the government, and it is us.”