Do you feel like an engaged citizen?

Sometimes I am not sure I know what it means to be engaged citizen. I grew up loving the music and culture of the 60s and 70s, watching documentaries like Eyes on the Prize and others showing bra burning, shootings, sign carrying, boycotts, singing with arms linked and much more. My parents, grandparents and older friends shared their experiences of working with Dr. Martin Luther King, becoming conscientious objectors and attending rallies—much of this by their mid-twenties. To me, these people were politically engaged, taking action to support their beliefs.
In my mid-twenties, I have kept up with the news through NPR, the Times, the Post, The New Yorker and other such means. When I hear or read something I don’t understand, I seek out the answers. During elections, I watch the debates and try to visit each candidate’s websites to understand their positions. But I have encountered two issues that make me second-guess my political engagement: I have trouble acting on my beliefs because I am not sure I ever really know what is going on and, even if I did feel confident in the information I received, I would not have the first clue how to go out there and change things.
In sum, I would say I am an engaged citizen in that I care and seek to understand what is happening in the world around me but my inability/unwillingness to take action as a voter in a democratic nation disappoints me. I feel that I am somehow neglecting my duties by keeping quiet. Perhaps I use these excuses as a cop out, preventing me from acting on a conviction and then having to admit I am wrong, should that be the case. Or, perhaps the world has changed and activism no longer affects the world as it once did. Either way, what good is it to know and to feel strongly about current events if I don’t do anything about it?