The action project was difficult to plan and execute given the time constraints of a quarter system. That said, I am very proud of the job our group was able to do and the message we were able to convey with regards to increasing political engagement among our peers at the University of Washington.
Once I had time to reflect upon our project, I realized that I am energized and ready to work in the future. With the recent string of special elections, I am hopeful that my generation can continue to be involved and get out to vote. While I never expected our project to make a significant impact in the community, I think it has the ability to make an impact in someone’s life if they continue to participate in local and national politics. Looking back, this project really emphasized the idea of stealth democracy originally put forward by political scientists Elizabeth Theiss Morse and John Hibbing. Basically, this theory states that most individuals vastly overestimate the degree to which Americans are willing to participate in politics and their commitment to certain democratic ideals. In reality, a plurality of citizens is willing to cede their democratic responsibility to unelected actors or independent experts. I think this project, and the prevalence of no answers or ignored calls, reinforced the fact that outside of elections American voters have relatively little ways to impact policy.
To that point, I am excited looking forward to the 2018 midterms. I feel that there is a lot of urgency among the electorate, and believe that it is possible for the Democrats to win the House in 2018. As I said above, recent elections indicate that, under the correct circumstances, traditionally red areas of the country are in play. Hopefully this summer I will be able to use the skills from this project such as canvassing to do my small part this election cycle.