By Kieron Murdoch | Opinion Contributor

We discussed the importance of voting not too long ago during the lead-up to the US Presidential election. As we are now fast approaching a by-election here in Antiguan Barbuda, it seems appropriate that we revisit the subject. Voting in elections is a right accorded universally to adult citizens in our country and it is something we ought not take for granted.

While it is easy to get caught up with the messages put forward by the candidates, and while it is just as easy to be unimpressed with any of them, it is important to remember that in each election, we are not just choosing who represents us or who governs, but that we are also reaffirming that we, the citizens, have the right to make that determination.

Failing to exercise that right routinely and honestly reduces the representativeness of the results of elections and can engender situations where the few are deciding who rules the many because too many are too apathetic to participate. Apathy is dangerous. It can stunt sociopolitical progress by holding citizens back from engaging in the political process in a variety of ways they ought.

As we’ve discussed before, part of the problem is that we are unhappy with the choices. But that is entirely our fault. Neither you nor I is entitled to a perfect political system by sitting at home watching Netflix most of the time and letting a few comments on Facebook be the sum total of our engagement with the political process.

Neither you nor I is entitled to rebuke the idea of starting a political party or joining a political party but then be dismayed when the parties that others created are not in line with our values and ideals. We are not entitled to fall silent most of the year, leaving activism, advocacy, and criticism up to a dedicated few, but then be dismayed when those in power seem deaf to our silent opinions.

We are not entitled to take no civic action, to never sign a petition, never join a protest, never demand a meeting with someone in power, never write a letter of complaint, never sign a letter to the Editor under our name, never make a donation to a group that represents something we believe in, never organise, never squeak, but to then expect that our politicians will somehow become tame, highly responsive to our needs, and wary of neglecting us.

Democracy is in many ways an aberration. It is the exception and not the rule. The rule of nature is that the powerful dominate the weak. Therefore, we must understand that a democratic system is not something owed to us by virtue of our humanity, but something fought for and retained by constant action. It is a choice that citizens make to be governed by leaders elevated by their consent and a choice which must be made over and over, every day of every year.

The moment we choose not to care, we cede power back to the natural order – the order where those with power simply amass more of it for their own benefit, and where those without power grow weaker. Maintaining a democracy is exhausting. It requires a citizenry committed to constant resistance to the natural tendency of power to accumulate unto itself, to be exercised without just cause, and to become tyrannical in nature.

If tyranny were a common virus, and if the body were the nation, then an active and informed citizenry is the immune system of our country. When the citizens falter, become apathetic, speak out less, organise less, join no movements and take no action, the immune system becomes weaker and soon the symptoms of tyranny begin to manifest.

For us to be healthy, our immune systems cannot take a break. They need to be working all the time because pathogens and infections are a normal part of our reality. So too, our resistance as citizens to the ever-creeping tendency of governments to overreach and abuse their power cannot be robust sometimes and weak at others. We must be ever vigilant, ceding nothing of our rights to assemble, to speak, to think, to criticise, to organise, to petition, to seek redress, and to vote.

About the writer:

Kieron Murdoch is an opinion contributor at antigua.news. He worked as a journalist and later as a radio presenter in Antigua and Barbuda for eight years, covering politics and governance especially. If you have an opinion on the issues raised in this editorial and you would like to submit a response by email to be considered for publication, please email staff@antigua.news.