They're out there trying to live their lives, and they don't see us as terribly relevant. But we are very relevant because everything we do up here eventually affects the way they live their lives. I saw that connection, and that's why I wanted to be in Congress. We need campaign-finance reform. But it was Alexis de Tocqueville who suggested that the great danger of a democracy is that people become so enamored of enjoying their liberties that they no longer attend to its maintenance.
Psychologists are guilty of that, too.
We take for granted the hard-fought privileges that we enjoy and opportunities for training or treatment. Or research dollars. Sure, we could make the political system work better. But I think the most important responsibility is for the citizens themselves, and that includes psychologists, to be active participants. Cover Page for this Issue APA Home Page .