Without Civic Participation,
Reform Is Impossible

We forget that government here is not only for the people but by the people. We get the government we deserve.

Bipartisanship is possible, especially when those involved in the effort care about good government and are no longer in public office.

Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and one-time Republican U.S. Congressman Lou Frey, and their respective schools (the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida and the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government at the University of Central Florida), joined forces to prepare a report for Gov. Charlie Crist. The subject wasn’t insurance reform or finding property tax relief. In a way, it addressed something much more important — how to fix this state’s apathy toward government.

Titled “Enlisting a New Generation of Florida Citizens,” the report was released to the governor and the Florida Legislature on Jan. 23. Among other things, it suggests that courses detailing the makeup of Florida and municipal governments be required not only for students to earn their high school degree, but also for educators wishing to teach at state-certified colleges. The report’s recommendations, if enacted, should at least make the next generation of Floridians aware of the basic framework of government. It may also help reverse the results of a Florida Bar survey that showed 40 percent of Floridians could not name the three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial.

But even if the report’s suggestions are followed, it does not guarantee that more residents will care about those branches of government any more than they already do.

After all, many residents of the Sunshine State still don’t consider themselves Floridians. Traditionally, Florida has been a transient place, where people come to escape snow, the pressures of other urban environments, debt and — in some cases — even political persecution in their home country. Although many see this place as a land of opportunity, how many see Florida as their true home?

This may be a clue: Florida ranked number 38 out of 50 states in voter turnout. Perhaps more revealing, as Graham stated at a recent press conference, according to the Tallahassee Democrat: “We rank 48th among the 50 states in the number of persons who volunteer for some civic activity.”

In short, meaningful reform of government will be utterly impossible if the body politic doesn’t care — no matter how much we scream and yell, no matter what changes are made in the structure of local government — whether that means enacting a strong-mayor form of government or changing how we elect municipal council members or county commissioners.

If we sit back and complain about rising property taxes, bad parking, questionable activity of politicians, and the tendency of incumbents — no matter how poor their performance in office may be — to be re-elected over and over, but do not take action, the powers that be will continue lending an ear to special interests (developers, insurance executives, sport teams, rock miners, etc….).

And why shouldn’t they? Angry homeowners come and go but lobbyists are ever-present. If citizens don’t at least appear to have a passing interest in what goes on in their own city, county or state, then why should the politicians they elect?

There are some hopeful signs within Miami-Dade County, though. One decent by-product of our recent development boom is the proliferation of condo and single-family homeowners. It’s only natural they would wish to protect their considerable investments. And there are larger numbers of second-generation Floridians living here today as opposed to a few decades ago. But apathy is still the rule, not the exception, partly because local and state government disappoints. We forget that government is not only for the people but by the people. We get the government we deserve, and to change it we have to be ready to step up to the plate and volunteer, not just with activist groups fighting to cut taxes or to protect the environment but volunteering at state, county or city boards. In short, we have to point government in the direction we feel it needs to go. We can’t depend on professional administrators or elected officials to do it all for us.

The alternative? Just get used to higher property taxes, more scandals, unfair government and empty promises.