I've been thinking a lot lately about democracy.

It's not something I ever used to pay much mind before. It was just sort of there. Growing up in the U.S., you learn from an early age that our government is a representative democracy, and that means we elect our leaders on Election Day every November and then they make legislative decisions on our behalf. You absorb this information, you learn to take it as a given, and you move on with your life.

It wasn't until the last few years that I really started looking at all of this with a more critical eye. Questions started popping into my head, like: How do we know that the system works? How do we know that we're electing the best leaders for the job? That those leaders are making decisions for our benefit and not merely for their own? That the will of the people is actually being represented? Given recent events in this country, it's easy to worry about these things. Maybe the system is far more fragile than we were once led to believe.

Like many, I watched this past week as our president gave a prime-time address in front of the Capitol, with Election Day just a few days away. He warned, in no uncertain terms, that democracy itself is what's on the ballot, and that it needs our stewardship:

"Democracies are more than a form of government. They're a way of being, a way of seeing the world, a way that defines who we are, what we believe, and why we do what we do. Democracy is simply that fundamental. We can't take democracy for granted any longer."

I've been thinking lately about this idea as it applies to not only our country, but our favorite word game as well.

The situations aren't exactly comparable, of course. We haven't seen any violent insurrectionists storming the Scrabble world (thank goodness). The stakes are lower, and the rhetoric is a little cooler. But still, the basic principle holds true: As we go about shaping the future we want to see for Scrabble, democracy is absolutely vital. We can't take that for granted.

The CoCo, like the United States, is a representative democracy. We elect board members every year, and those board members make decisions that guide the organization forward. And the CoCo, like the United States, is in the swing of election season as we speak. Nominations for new board members are open now and continuing through the end of the day Saturday. After that, we'll have two weeks of voting, followed by a transition period in December to inaugurate the new board.

This is something of a big deal. The CoCo isn't exactly facing the same democratic crisis that our country is, but we are definitely at a key inflection point in Scrabble's history right now, and we're faced with an opportunity to really make a positive difference in the future of the game. That opportunity starts now.

To be honest, Scrabble governance is a lot like our nation's governance, in that there's a fair amount of administrative red tape. You endure your fair share of forming committees and sitting through meetings and all of that rigmarole. But, ultimately, we do actually get a lot of stuff done that has a meaningful impact for Scrabble. In just these first couple of years, our board has worked together to:

• Form a team of people to direct the Word Cup Collins division, which was the largest CSW event in the world in 2022.

• Collaborate on running other significant events - including but not limited to the upcoming 2023 Crescent City Cup.

• Organize a great deal of virtual Scrabble play, including a weekly club that meets every Tuesday night on Woogles.io.

• Usher in some cool new innovations for directing paperless Scrabble tournaments, including electronic results submission and reusable blank slips with dry erase markers.

• Continue to grow the Collins tournament scene in North America, with a constant emphasis on recruiting new directors and new players.

All of this is important. If you care about what lies ahead for Scrabble, this is the kind of stuff that matters. And it all begins with the process that's in front of us right now - nominating leaders, electing them, and putting them in position to do big things.

So let's get into it! If you feel inspired to run for a position, then run. If you know someone else who might be, then talk to them and rope them into it. And even if not, you can still be involved - by voting, and by speaking with the leaders who are elected and urging them to bring about the positive change you want to see for Scrabble.

Together, we're all going to make this game better. Slowly but surely. And the guiding principle behind that movement - make no mistake - is democracy. If I've learned anything lately, it's that that's not something we should take for granted.