I think that the very size of our population serves to repress our willingness to become involved in politics -- to even just get out there and Vote. We think our crummy little single vote will have exactly Zilch effect on the outcomes we are (at least sometimes) deeply concerned about.

Lack of sufficient information (because of educational deficits, or the demands of a life that requires us to work really hard--sometimes in two jobs, with little time and no energy left to research political issues or candidate's background enough, and the ubiquitous presence of TVs in every house, sometimes in every Room! -- blapping out propaganda and cultural fairytales, and lies, lies, lies (even from our President) - make it really hard to feel confident about whether we know what the heck we're voting for and who the "Good Guys" are!