Lori Walsh: Chuck Parkinson's career in government ranges from work on Senator Jim Abner's staff in the 1970s to federal appointments from President Ronald Reagan and President George H. W. Bush to work as a lobbyist and a consultant. He's the host of SDPB's program, Where Do We Go from Here? And, now, in partnership with SDPB, he's launching a series of short takes on democracy. You can find You and Your Democracy online. In the series, Chuck and his guests tackle issues about the role of government, why democracy matters, and why participation in democracy matters more than ever. You can find that program at sdpb.org/yourdemocracy. Starting next week, you'll hear those conversations on In the Moment Wednesdays after the Dakota Political Junkies.
But, first, today we welcome Chuck Parkinson for a preview of the new series. Chuck, welcome back. Thanks for being here.
Chuck Parkinson: Thanks Lori. I appreciate you having me on.
Lori Walsh: Now, these are quick conversations. Perfect for first-time voters, perfect for people who want to go back and say, "Yeah, what is this thing called government? And why does it matter? And how is it supposed to work?" And you're reaching out to a lot of political science professors, and people who understand not only our present, but our history. Tell us a little bit about why this series is so important to you.
Chuck Parkinson: Well, when we could no longer do Where Do We Go From Here in studio, we took a little time off and Suzanne and I have conversations like this around our kitchen island every day. And one morning I'm sitting, reading the paper and she comes out and she says, "We've got to do something. What do you think about doing these short little 10 to 12 minute pieces on democracy?" And we thought about it a little bit, and SDPB was willing to grab with us. And, basically, the idea was to look at civics. We talked to so many people that younger people, we actually had a program on this last year where young people said that they weren't getting the civics they needed to know. They didn't know about things. And we also wanted to reach out for that very reason that you stated, that why does your participation count? And why should you be involved? And democracy is a participatory sport, as they like to say.
Lori Walsh: Yeah. All right so, let's talk about some of those big questions that people are going to see in these first ... I've watched the first three episodes. But one of them is this idea of the benefits of democracy? What do we know about democracies versus other systems? Why does it matter? Why is it, in general, a positive influence on people's lives?
Chuck Parkinson: Well, I think one of the most important things to quote Winston Churchill, he said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, but it's better than all of the others." And one of the things is that I think we tried to focus on, or the fact is it's the voice of the people. Democracy only works if the people participate in it. And also a quote I like to use is that Thomas Jefferson say, "We in America do not have a government of by the majority. We have a government by the majority who participate." And that really strikes home to the fact.
Earlier segment today, I was talking about the local government activities. And people usually think about only national political races, but state and local governments have a much larger impact. And local government, specifically, is a real place where you can do democracy because the people on the city councils in the county commissions are your neighbors. You see them in the grocery store. You can approach them. That's another benefit of living in South Dakota is we are a small state, and you actually can have a conversation with your elected officials at the local and state level. And that's part of democracy.
And I think as we approach this and look at how we're going to go forward, we want to look at, basically, the head and the heart of what is democracy? And I think the head is what are the functions and mechanisms of government? And the heart is the values we hold as, basically, outlined in the preamble of the constitution. It's we, the people. It's not me. It's not you. It's not I. It's we, the people are getting together to make this union work. And unless we're interested in actually being active in it the people who are active in it get to make the decisions for you.
Lori Walsh: So, by this standard, is there anything more important than getting out to vote? Is there anything more important than encouraging people to show up for the city council meeting, to show up for the school board meeting, to call your state lawmaker? And to register to vote and have a plan for casting your ballot? When I was watching these things, I just thought, "Well, we really have to lean hard into encouraging people to participate because that's the only way any of this works."
Chuck Parkinson: It is indeed. And that's really our focus. Our goal, I think is that there are rights. And I always hear people say, "I know my rights." But I very seldom hear them say, "I know my responsibilities and obligations." And voting is both a right and a responsibility. And I think we all tend to take it for granted. And we find ourselves saying, "Well, I really don't want to vote because I don't have time. It's too hard. I got to get in the car, I got to drive to the courthouse. I got to go here. I've got to go there." But it's one of those things where we need to educate ourselves. We need to work forward. And everyone needs to take it upon themselves to talk to other people to say, "You need to be involved." If you aren't involved, like I said earlier, the people who are involved will make those decisions for you.
I think one of the great lines that I draw on and it happened during the 2018 election, President Obama was making comments and it was directing at getting younger voters out. And he said, basically, that you don't want your grandparents selecting your playlist. And I think that drives the point home that young people have a vote, they have a voice. They need to use it. And they are starting to do that. But it's not only them. I think one of the things that we need to pay attention to is that in the 2018 election, we had the biggest turnout we've had in a long time. And everybody said, "Oh, this is great. This is wonderful." But still only 35% of people under 30 years old voted. And that is a really troubling figure, to me. And, by the way, I always tell people, "The government's not spending their money, they're spending your money." [crosstalk 00:07:29].
Lori Walsh: Yeah, Chuck, I'm sorry to interrupt. But it also strikes me that the people who don't participate can be inclined to feel like this government does not represent them because they feel so disconnected with it. So, if you show up for three hours of testimony at the Brooklyn City Council, and the vote does not go the way that you want it to go, you feel, still, that there was a process and that they moved it to a big arena, so people could have a chance to participate. They included people in Zoom, the process, and the system works. If nobody shows up and no one's there, and the city council just makes a decision on their own, how many people feel like this government doesn't even have their interests in mind? So, the fact that people do not participate can also lead to this whole sense of the government isn't really working for us, even if they vote on something that we agree with. I mean, it's a psychological impact as well, when that many people stay home. Am I wrong there? Am I overstating it?
Chuck Parkinson: No, I think you're right on target Lori. It's one of these cases where people feel somewhat disenfranchised. And I've heard people say, "Well, I'm not going to vote because my vote doesn't matter. People don't listen to me." And the fact is what you said about going to that city council meeting and sitting there, one of the things people often forget is that democracies are based on compromise. And a lot of people say, "Well, I don't agree with you, therefore, I'm not going to speak with you. I'm not going to talk with you anymore." We've gotten into this deeply partisan divide where the idea is that there was an adage when I worked in DC for a long time, that the bill gets passed and nobody is happy, it's probably a pretty good piece of legislation.
But what it showed was that people of different views, the way that democracy works had to come together in the middle and make a decision. Because if decisions aren't made, in the long run, that is the death of democracy. Because, if you can't come to agreement on issues, and you can't say, "Well, I want to listen to what you have to say," I think that would bring people back. It's not going to be an easy haul because, literally, we've gotten lazy as far as politics comes and goes in this country. And I think we, as the people, need to get that inspiration back, to get involved. And, hopefully, with the efforts that are going on, this is not really the best year with COVID and everything else. But I think that there is an effort out there where people have shown that they're willing to get involved. And I think that with the activities that are taking place [inaudible 00:00:10:25]-
Lori Walsh: Chuck, I'm going to jump in because we're out of time, but go to sdpb.org/yourdemocracy.