According to a recent Rasmussen poll, only 17 percent of Americans believe our national government possesses the consent of the governed. These numbers may not seem shocking, because they’ve been low for so long. But not always. In 1964, Pew found 77 percent of Americans expected their government to do “the right thing” most of the time.

So the American people think our democracy doesn’t work. But there are also many objective signs that it’s failing. One is that Americans don’t vote as much as citizens of most other countries, including developing countries. In 2010, only 37.5 percent voted in Congressional elections. There are signs that young people are voting less than they used to. Why? As Rock the Vote found in a 2010 poll, it is very simple: Because they think it doesn’t matter who wins, that no real change is possible. They think the power of special interests is simply too great. And they are right.

Elliot Gerson — To Make America Great Again, We Need to Leave the Country