Now that America’s youth have been engaged by a historic presidential election, our democracy needs these free-thinking, tech-savvy voters to stay involved in the democratic process, even in the coming years that won’t see a presidential election.Association will never die because it’s a fundamental part of humanity. Networking is exploding on the Web. New tools are bringing new structures and the old fraternal/civic clubs that won’t adapt will be left to fade away. It’s different with political associations–the two dominant parties, Democratic and Republican, are virtually joined at the hip with government.To abandon these civic institutions would be like leaving our democracy to politicians, lobbyists, consultants, and the special interests that fund them. We need a new generation of politicos to get involved with these old-school institutions. There also must be opportunities for new parties to succeed. I’m active in the Washington State Democratic party. I’ve found that this political association best speaks to my values, and I agree with many of the policy goals of the party. Being active with Democrats gives me an opportunity to participate within democracy without running for office. This summer, I helped put together the Democratic picnic for ourlegislative district. We wanted something different than the usualbarbecue and decided to go green and buy locally produced food. Insteadof individual small bottles, we brought a carboy of fresh spring water.We steered clear of corn-syrup-based drinks and served wild-mint icedtea out of a big urn. And we used as many non-disposable accessories aspossible. We wanted to showcase our local party as really caring aboutliving in a more sustainable world. Think of it as another form ofinfluence peddling. Simply giving a financial donation to a party orcampaign is important, but I feel there was a real value to the effortwe made.Our party also publishes an annual platform that is our message tovoters about our values and policy goals. I know there’s snickeringfrom some readers who think I’m a party hack or fancy myself as somekind of boss. But that’s a common derogation from people who don’t seethe bigger picture: Political association is about people comingtogether to make their voices heard.A good public official should makethe needs of all the people they serve a priority. At the same time, ifthey’re serving in a partisan office, I believe the party nominee is anambassador to the voters about the party’s values and policy goals.Part of the reason grassroots political association is waning in thisstate is that there appears to be no real need to participate whenactual party affiliation is not even allowed on any partisan ballotexcept for the office of president. Political association is a part ofany election process and can flourish in the information age. It hasalready proven its potential in the 2008 presidential election. Itcould be only a matter of time until Internet-based social networkingcrosses over into full-fledged political association. Our civictradition of elections must learn how to adapt because the survival ofour democracy depends on it.