One of Brandeis’ star initiatives is the Abraham Feinberg Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation, or ENACT network. ENACT endeavors to motivate students towards civic engagement through connections with policymakers, opportunities for research and collaboration. VoteDeis, as a student coalition within the ENACT network, often hosts events in collaboration with ENACT, the most recent of which consisted of a brief lecture from Brandeis professor Daniel Kryder (POL) and  a small workshop where attendees had the opportunity to draft and send letters to their local legislators. Student organizations like VoteDeis, as well as university-supported networks like ENACT, are a wonderful example of how individual expressions of liberty lead to measurable change — for example, ENACT’s student advocacy and research fellows' research on period insecurity led to the implementation of free menstrual product dispensers in every campus building and residence hall. In an age when expressions of individual and cultural liberty are actively being threatened, organizations like ENACT and VoteDeis are among countless nationwide organizations that fight for the voices of students and individuals to be heard and serve as inspiration for individuals and communities alike to mobilize in the name of change.

Though brief, Prof. Kryder’s lecture on expanding voter turnout was dense with information on how understanding past voter suppression can help us overcome it in the present. He encouraged students and voters to stay educated on federal movement, but to remember the fundamental goal of our country: America was founded as a nation that, above all else, valued the agency of the individual and our power to change our government if needed. In this way, remembering to communicate with legislators and vote in state-level elections is an integral part of creating an America that truly delivers freedom for all. 

Prof. Kryder also offered various methods of mobilizing voters, all of which emphasize the power of voting as a social action. Voting is an expression of your own rights, to be sure, but voting in elections, no matter how small, also serves as an implicit commitment to your community and has real-world impacts. Specifically, he enumerated three ways to get someone to vote. First, he asks students and voters to frame voting as a social action. Asking someone to vote is different than asking them if they’re a voter — one is about action, and one is about identity. Your neighbors, your friends and your family are voters — why aren’t you? Secondly, Prof. Kryder underlined the increasingly lost value of personal connection. Though online advocacy is very important, it’s important to remember the value of creating a personal connection with someone. Asking someone to vote in person, though seemingly innocuous, is likely to be more productive because with a personal connection serves as a reminder of the social and political obligations we have to each other. Voting, as I mentioned, is not only a personal right but a responsibility that we have to advocate for the betterment of our communities and homes. The last step to the informal guide Prof. Kryder provided for us also relies on personal connection — making an active plan and demanding results is a good way to overcome the passivity many face when it comes to political action. Intimidation can be a major roadblock that impedes better voter turnout. It can be difficult to know where to begin when it comes to civic participation and political activism, regardless of how passionate you are. Helping someone overcome the many (and increasingly unnecessary) obstacles one can face in the voting process is a surefire way to inspire confidence, mutual respect and continued civic participation. 

We are living in an age where politics has more similarities to reality television than an arena where political actors diplomatically traverse the many issues affecting our nation. Though the modern state of politics is one of aggression, ignorance and recklessness, it didn’t always used to be this way. That being said, the journey to making politics boring again is paved by the power of the state, your community and personal connections, as well as broader changes on the federal level. Programs like ENACT, student coalitions like VoteDeis and even clubs that don’t directly pertain to politics are all crucial to building a better America. Voluntary expressions of creativity and community opportunities that foster connection, as well as the many other options that the average citizen has for self-expression, cannot be underemphasized, especially in our current political context. Nationwide as well as community protests are similarly important, but the power of you, the reader, to enact change is real and waiting to be used. What will you do with it?