We can’t blame our government or the political parties, at least not entirely, for the mess we are in. Most view the government as composed of three branches, but the constitutional system requires not only the legislative, executive and judicial powers, but the constant participation of the people from whom those powers derive. America is a table set for four.

If you’re anything like me, I’ll bet you’re struggling to pay attention to this election. No doubt, the four-year fever dream of American politics has grown more abstract and confusing over the years, but we’re witnessing strange new developments. To borrow from art critic Eric Wayne, Americans seem worn out from all the “radical new boring ****.”

A few short months from now, Americans will sit down to Thanksgiving. They’ll pass plates of tradition from person to person, from young to old, from Republican to Democrat. Some at that table will have begrudgingly gone to the polls. Many won’t have voted at all. America will have elected a new president, and the people at that table will be disappointed with our choice.

In a democracy, entering an era of perpetually unpopular candidates is an uncomfortable proposition. After all, “popularity contest” virtually describes the whole point. The beautiful and horrible truth is that democracy means we get precisely the leadership we deserve. If we get to November and Americans don’t look favorably on either of the candidates, we’ll have only ourselves to blame.

Political tension in American democracy is nothing new, but our internal conflict can be constructive when mediated by the force of shared ideals. The Constitution establishes our form of government on behalf of “the People.” The objective of our government is clear: “We” aim to “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

For more than 200 years, Americans generally shared a commitment to that purpose. Our legislators quibbled and compromised over the fine print of our laws in service to those ends. Interpreting and applying the law, justices and judges were anything but dispassionate about their commitment to those values. Executives and civil servants have nearly continuously stretched and tested the limits of their constitutional authorities to provide for those objectives. Countless Americans spent their lives, or sacrificed their lives, for those ideals.

The Constitution requires the citizenry to perform several critical functions. We alone form the institutions that engage in social action, place demands on the government and drive electoral participation. Without those functions, the government hardly knows what interests to serve.

We vote to elect leadership. Fredrick Douglass said the elective franchise was “the one great power by which all civil rights are obtained, enjoyed and maintained under our system of government, and the one without which freedom to any class is delusive if not impossible.” For many Americans, Douglass included, voting was a ritual kept with religious devotion, performed as if salvation depended on it. Without complete and informed participation, our leadership is hardly representative.

If this frustrates you (as it does me), consider this final constitutional obligation. No court in America, no Congress, no president, can add a single word to the Constitution. We alone decide what is or is not constitutional. We determine the boundaries and highest meanings of our way of life.

There are four seats at the table. Three have been held without interruption. The branches of government have largely lived up to their end of the bargain. Can the same be said for the rest of us?

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