Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1990 TAG: 9004110477
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Besides, what in tarnation is a Nepal? A country? If so, it seems the kind of place that should be a figment of the National Geographic's imagination, an inaccessible never-never land high in the Himalayas.
And run by an all-powerful king? A king? In 1990? Not an all-powerful Hero of the Revolution or, at the least, medal-bedecked generalissimo?
But as in much of the rest of the world, there is in Nepal a pro-democracy movement. As in much of the rest of the world, there was in Nepal rejoicing when the regime announced it would lift a ban on opposition political parties. And, as in much of the rest of the world, there is nervous questioning about how far the concessions in fact will go.
Meanwhile in America, "politics" are thought to be something nice people don't do.
American political institutions - Congresses, legislatures, local governing boards and councils - are held in scorn by the same people who decide via elections who'll occupy them.
American presidents and governors win respect and high public-approval ratings by "rising above politics": They lose respect precisely to the extent that they are seen to be engaging in an effort actually to get something done via the political system.
Only about half of adult Americans bother to register to vote. If half of those who register then in fact bother to vote, turnout is considered high.
Are "politics" valuable only to people who've been denied them?
by CNB