i doubt the voter registration/jchance for jury duty thing enters into their minds.
That would take some government education which is not all that popular with the kids or their teachers.

Although getting not selected for a jury isn't really that difficult whether your crazy is an act or quite real.

Apathy?

Whatdahell does voting have to do with jury duty?

I have voted in every General Election since I turned 18. I will say that this one was the first time that I didn't vote for the Republican nominee. I didn't vote for the Democrat nominee, either.

I feel it is a very important right as a citizen and I don't mind showing my id to do so.

I for one would have predicted record breaking turnouts for this past Presidential election, I would have been wrong.

Has there been an election in recent memory where both candidates were so deeply unpopular outside their bases?

I noticed three sentiments during the campaign:

"I'm with her!"

"Make America Great Again!"

"Seriously, these two people are the best we can do? I'm out."

Do people just not care ?

There's probably a lot to that. You don't have to care if you don't want to. Then there's the arena itself...bitter, vile, full of hatred, plus we've got basically two sports teams to root for, The Red and The Blue.

So, I think a little of this happens...

Picture a bar, restaurant, any public place, really. A liberal and a conservative are going at it, loudly and obnoxiously. Now, as far as the "discussion" goes, both of those guys are into it. Really into it. Meanwhile, the rest of the people there are watching and listening and thinking, "Sheesh, What a couple of tools."

Then there's the "Me" element. People can say "whoever is President has no effect on my life whatsoever," and in many, many ways they are right. So why care?

Politics has also gotten deeply, deeply personal. We are far beyond "let's just agree to disagree," those days are over. In that scenario, people have to pretty much be all-in or all-out. A co-worker said to me the other day, "I have my opinions like everyone else, but I never share them, not in person, on Facebook, anywhere. I don't want to lose any friends or lose touch with family members." So, she doesn't engage.

Personally, I miss when politics was run by and reported on by policy wonks and procedure nerds. Governance is actually boring, tedious and mind-numbing when it's working correctly.

There's probably a lot to that. You don't have to care if you don't want to. Then there's the arena itself...bitter, vile, full of hatred, plus we've got basically two sports teams to root for, The Red and The Blue.

So, I think a little of this happens...

Picture a bar, restaurant, any public place, really. A liberal and a conservative are going at it, loudly and obnoxiously. Now, as far as the "discussion" goes, both of those guys are into it. Really into it. Meanwhile, the rest of the people there are watching and listening and thinking, "Sheesh, What a couple of tools."

Then there's the "Me" element. People can say "whoever is President has no effect on my life whatsoever," and in many, many ways they are right. So why care?

Politics has also gotten deeply, deeply personal. We are far beyond "let's just agree to disagree," those days are over. In that scenario, people have to pretty much be all-in or all-out. A co-worker said to me the other day, "I have my opinions like everyone else, but I never share them, not in person, on Facebook, anywhere. I don't want to lose any friends or lose touch with family members." So, she doesn't engage.

Personally, I miss when politics was run by and reported on by policy wonks and procedure nerds. Governance is actually boring, tedious and mind-numbing when it's working correctly.

Very well said. I can't watch the cable news networks because, in an effort to appear neutral, all they talk about is the horse race. Essentially, all they talk about is how politicians are trying to fool voters. That's all interesting and great for poli-sci students, but doesn't really help average voters looking for answers from politicians.

I take politics seriously, but never personally (unless, of course, it's an issue that is inherently personal such as persecutory or exclusionary issues). I have a good friend who is in a state legislature, and we disagree on nearly everything policy-wise. But these are debatable opinions on policy, not facts. We are still good friends. On the other hand, I have an uncle who had a political conversion when he moved to a conservative state and goes out of his way to bring up politics at every opportunity and condescend to those he disagrees with. Really nice guy, but not a lot of fun on holidays.

What is unfortunate is local participation - in a lot of regards your local politicians and elected officials have more direct affect on your daily life. People just don't pay attention. The President may appoint someone to the Federal Reserve who can affect interest rates, but that won't re-open the GM plant or bring new business to your state if your state's Governor can't financially entice companies to do business in your state.

However, people may be looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses. Voter participation percentage of eligible voters in the U.S. has hovered around 50% after peaking in the 1950s and 60s. Many U.S. citizens have always taken voting for granted. I always think of South Africa when they kept the polls open for a week just so everyone had a chance to vote, especially this past election when I voted in a state with incredibly strict and exclusionary voter ID rules.

[Edited on 11/18/2016 by porkchopbob]

There's other things, too...

-Enable early voting nationwide
-Move Election Day to a Saturday or make it a national holiday
-Standardize election systems for Federal elections nationwide
-Ensure all facets of the Voting Rights Act are enforced and enabled
-Embrace the notion that every single eligible American deserves the opportunity to vote

There's other things, too...

-Enable early voting nationwide
-Move Election Day to a Saturday or make it a national holiday
-Standardize election systems for Federal elections nationwide
-Ensure all facets of the Voting Rights Act are enforced and enabled
-Embrace the notion that every single eligible American deserves the opportunity to vote

Totally. Voting should be easy and accessible too all, but some states have made it more difficult. Too many people are turned away. There was a 99-year old veteran in WI who biked to the polls, since he can no longer drive, and was turned away due to their new restrictive voting ID laws. A poll worker drove him to a licensing office so he could prove he was him and vote. How many people were simply turned away and never returned? Make it a week long process, not just an election "day", so larger populations of voters can easily vote.