“The data also makes another point very clear: Those who didn’t vote are as responsible for the outcome of the election as those who did.“
As we always suspected. Irresponsible civic laziness has been a growing problem since the late 70’s and early 80’s. The K-12 system and undergraduate programs by and large quit emphasizing the necessity to inform students of the basis and workings of our governmental system. On average, high schools teach to a test marked by names and dates while non-political science majors in college can substitute other classes to fulfill their “Knowledge” in U.S. and State government requirement. This intentional avoidance theoretically gives the educational system a way to be at arms length with any particular ideology. Nonsense– you should have heard what my children’s senior year high school instructors said in their classes. It was all about their personal beliefs and not about educating students in the fundamental workings of our democratic/republican form of government.The majority of the nation clearly takes their civic freedom for granted. When individuals feel that their personal liberty is being infringed upon it is usually the fault of those in elected, appointed and professional positions. They are to blame. No, in a free society we are to blame. It is laziness and ignorance. It’s always too easy to blame someone or something instead of taking responsibility to fix what needs to be fixed. It takes a whole lot more than chanting “Throw the Bums Out” after every election and then go right back to our self-centeredness.
Stephen Harding
The Scholarly Participant 
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