Guest columnist Keith Peterson: A glimpse of what can happen when voters consider long-term future

If you are reading this editorial page, odds are that you are among the 40 percent of Americans who can name their member of Congress or the 55 percent that can name their member's party affiliation.

It is, perhaps, an easy and cheap shot to point out that a large percentage of Americans are not engaged politically or have a poor grasp of American history, or that only a third could find Ukraine on a map even as Russia prepared to invade this past winter.

However, as we enter this electoral season in the run-up to the midterm elections, a solid majority of Americans believe that our democratic system is in crisis. Many of those who hold that opinion do so because they do not believe that President Biden was legitimately elected.

Issues with American democracy, however, are not something that just surfaced on Jan. 6, 2021. The Economist lists the United States as a "flawed democracy" behind Canada, a host of European countries and Uruguay and Chile. Freedom House has been documenting a steady decline in the quality of American democracy for a generation.

The Electoral College, the Senate filibuster, partisan gerrymandering of House districts and lifetime appointments of judges all contribute in one way or another to allowing political minorities to have outsized influence. And various laws that restrict access to the ballot do nothing to improve Americans' sorry record of voter turnout.

There is a lot of blame to go around - disappearing civics classes, grandstanding politicians, negative advertising, partisan gridlock, hypocrisy so thick you can cut it with a knife, tribalism and, in the last generation, the growing power of social media and the anger it stokes. When the information landscape is so fragmented, finding facts agreed to by all has become harder.

The solution begins and ends at the ballot box. First, show up. Second, take as much time as it takes to watch a football game and familiarize yourselves with the ballot, the choices and the candidates. Today there are many websites that offer independent information on the candidates such as vote-usa.org.

In 2015, in the town of Yahaba in northeast Japan, its citizens engaged in a unique experiment. A group of citizens debated which policies should shape the future of their town. However, there was a twist. Half of the citizens came as themselves. The other half donned ceremonial robes and came as citizens from the year 2060. Their task was to represent the interests of the residents who would be living in Yahaba in 45 years - in other words, their grandchildren.

The results were striking. The future residents of Yahaba argued for policies that meant short-term sacrifice in order to achieve gains over the longer term and they were able, after a period of discussion, to convince the present day residents of Yahaba that this was the wisest path.

This marked the beginning of Japan's "Future Design" movement, which has been replicated in towns and cities around the country. Interestingly, professor Tatsuyoshi Saijo borrowed this idea from Native Americans, who have long embraced the principal of "seventh-generation decision making." How will decisions made today impact a person born seven generations from now?

It is not a bad thought experiment. Before you enter the voting booth and fill in a circle next to the name of a candidate do you know what policies they support and do you believe that those policies will make your community, your state and your country a better place - not just for you but for your children and their children?

It is not an easy question. We can't see the future. But we can shape it if we put a little effort into making informed choices.

• Keith Peterson, of Lake Barrington, served 29 years as a press and cultural officer for the United States Information Agency and Department of State. He was chief editorial writer of the Daily Herald 1984-86.