It is always refreshing when election season ends. No more ads. No more campaigning. No more flyers and free bottle openers. We can finally resume our lives as though nothing had happened. Or can we? Even after elections, it remains our responsibility to maintain an interest in what happens in our government at all levels, including the student government here at Harvard.
One should hope that enthusiasm and interest in politics continues in the interim between elections. It is easy to forget about the Cambridge City Council, the Mayor of New York, and the Governor of Virginia once the “horse races” have ended and the media frenzy surrounding them subsides, but we should continue supporting our representatives and keep them accountable for their duties while in office.
The trend of losing interest after elections is pervasive on all levels of politics whether it is national, local, or even here on campus. In an interview with the HPR, Riya Patel, Undergraduate Council Representative, said, “During election period, students are constantly reminded of the UC and the work that we do because candidates are really publicizing their ideas and spreading the word about the election. But once school picks up, people begin to get busy with their own activities and there isn’t as much daily talk about the UC and its initiatives.”
Ingrid Li, who worked last summer as a campaign manager for Katherine Clark’s campaign for Congress, told the HPR: “The candidate has such a priority on winning so the week of elections they put in a huge amount of effort. However, once guaranteed the position, the incentive to maintain this much effort no longer exists. However, the fault on the public’s behalf is that they tend to focus more on the ‘action’ or ‘entertainment’ rather than the actual issues that the candidates address so once the election is over, so is the ‘entertainment’ and ‘interesting’ value that made the public pay attention in the first place.” Li believes that this applies to the student government scene on campus. Therefore, she suggested newly elected leaders “should work on substantial issues and work on transparency between the government and the public.”
This transparency and connectivity is exactly what the UC is aiming to achieve. For example, the UC holds office hours, study breaks, and reaches out to students using social media. There are also monthly “hang out” sessions in Annenberg for freshmen to connect with their representatives. Patel added that “on the UC, we make a great effort to update the student body on our progress with certain issues and initiatives so I think that helps. But at the same time, it’s up to the student body to actively keep themselves up to date on what’s going on around campus because it’s their school and they should care what happens.”
The problem of waning interest can only be fixed if action is taken on both sides. Of course, representatives have the obligation to reach out to their constituents and work with them in mind. However, in return, the people must maintain a vested interest in government even without the mania and adrenaline that accompany elections. As Harvard prepares to vote for the new UC President and Vice President this month, let’s keep in mind that our interest in the UC should not end even after the last vote is counted.