If you're an American who is not planning to vote Nov. 7, join the crowd. In the past few decades, less than 40% of eligible voters in the U.S. have bothered to cast ballots in midterm elections.

Your forebears would be ashamed. In late-19th-century midterm elections, turnout ranged from 65% to 78%. For presidential elections, almost 80% of the nation's eligible -- rich and poor, educated and illiterate -- voted. In 1888, 10 states had turnouts of more than 90%. Eight years later, Indiana voters set a record with 97% casting ballots.

A 19th-century man (in most states, women weren't enfranchised until 1920) could decide to vote on the spur of the moment, pick up a simple ballot from party headquarters and drop it at the poll on Election Day, where his like-minded neighbors would give him a cheer and perhaps a beer. No preregistration was required, no taxes, no proof of residency, literacy or even citizenship. If, like most people then, he was a party man, his vote might earn him a reward -- a small cash gift or even better, a job with the post office.

Election day was rowdy and festive, a thrilling climax to a political campaign that featured bonfires, barbecues, parades, torchlight rallies and passionate oratory. Politics were social and recreational at a time when there wasn't much other public entertainment. More than 20% of people were actively involved in campaigning. "Political matters were not complex, intangible and remote, but simple, concrete and directly related to the concerns of daily life," wrote Paul Kleppner in his 1982 book, "Who Voted?"