ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how political participation, political agency, is a marker of citizenship, and that political agency gets extended or limited, to whom and why, and what effect has on public policy and decisions. Is voting a right, a duty, or a privilege, or something only the right people should do? What about other types of public participation—at public meetings or on a jury, for instance? If only one segment of the population is affecting public policy, what is that impact on the public good? This chapter looks at those issues that impact the goal of civic republicanism: citizen participation, from lack of access to the voting booth; from the federal Voting Rights Act, to state laws that actually govern how, when, and whether citizens may vote, even in federal elections (Voter ID legislation and gerrymandering), to lack of free time and ability to engage in public ideas.
