Nonparticipation in Political Life in the US in the Founding Era and Today

Tingfeng Yan, University of Chicago

In the contemporary world, modernity is often associated with active political participation and seen as a unique phenomenon originating in the West. In the United States, people often valorize democratic engagement in political life in ways such as protests and public discussions as an epitome of political modernity. However, I suggest that the popular valorization of the US as a country of active political participation has an element of myth. In the Founding era, many Americans did not actively participate in political life. Many Americans today similarly demonstrate a degree of political apathy: they do not vote, know about the government’s policies, or engage in politics in general. The US does not stand as an exemplum of active political participation, a purported standard of political modernity. During the American Revolution, about half of the American population stayed uncommitted to either loyalist or patriot sides. When the US Founders created state and federal constitutions, much of the population did not actively participate in making or challenging the constitutions through ways such as debating, petitioning, and rioting. Drawing on historical sources such as late 18th-century newspapers and legislative records, I reconstruct the phenomenon of political nonparticipation in the Founding era and analyze its causes. These causes include crushing workload, perceived powerlessness to change the constitutional orders, the prioritization of local communal lives over engagement with state and federal constitutionalism, and more. Like in the Founding era, many Americans today also remain inactive in political life due to a number of reasons, such as a distrust in democratic processes and political parties. Political nonparticipation is a widespread phenomenon in the US in the Founding era and today and problematizes an idealized celebration of “western” modernity as characterized by active political engagement.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 145. Democratic Backsliding and Authoritarian Politics