Attend a caucus

Utah's system of neighborhood political caucuses offers an opportunity for meaningful civic involvement not afforded to the residents of virtually any other state.

Those who attend caucuses have significant, some say disproportionate, influence in the political process. In other states, candidates are most often chosen in full primary elections. In Utah, a candidate who successfully maneuvers through the caucus process and accumulates strong delegate support can avoid a primary race, and arrive directly on the general election ballot.

That's why the dates the caucuses are held — March 13 for Democrats and March 15 for Republicans — have been referred to as the "real" election days in Utah.

Even though Utah has a long tradition of strong public participation in the political process, in recent years, involvement has declined, at least as measured in rates of voter turnout.

In 1968, for example, more than 80 percent of voting age Utahns cast ballots, well above the national average. A generation later, in 2008, slightly more than half of all of those eligible showed up to vote, significantly below the national average. Two years later, a non-presidential election year, Utah turnout fell to a meager 35 percent.

There are a variety of theories about the decline. Some political scientists believe people have come to regard voting as an exercise in futility.

There are relatively few "swing" precincts in Utah politics, and depending on the strength of party affiliation in your neighborhood, you might feel the candidate of your choice will win regardless of whether you vote, while others might believe their candidate is doomed to failure, and their vote would only serve to lessen the margin of defeat.

We are confident, however, that Utahns remain keenly interested in exercising their democratic franchise and continue to regard civic participation as an almost solemn duty.

As such, the perfect antidote to apathy, regardless of its cause, is to mark down those dates in mid-March on the family calendar, and make plans to march down the street to attend a party caucus meeting.

This, of all years, the caucuses will carry enormous import, if only because there are four Congressional seats up for grabs, all of which will be hotly contested among an array of candidates from which the final nominees may emerge as a result of conversations in a neighbor's living room.

Those who have never attended a caucus meeting may find the prospect intimidating. But regardless of whether you believe the influence they carry is appropriate or not, the caucuses are a grassroots mechanism of representative government.

And the notion that a large segment of our citizenry chooses to withdraw entirely from the process is the prospect that is the most intimidating of all.