The election year is well underway - with all the glossy ads, campaign cash and candidate strategies we've come to expect. It's easy to forget that, in the end, we're choosing leaders to do the not-so-glamorous work of governing.

Whether we're talking about the economy or the deficit, energy or health care, many big political debates today boil down to one question: What's Government For? Our beliefs and assumptions about the size and role of government are often deeply held, but they rarely get the scrutiny they deserve. What do we want to do for ourselves and our society through government? And what are we willing to pay for it?

We'd like you to help us take a closer look at that question by submitting your Perspective for a special half-hour program to air later this year. To learn more about our Perspectives series, visit www.kqed.org/perspectives.

Issues that might be addressed could include:

• Ways in which government has helped or hindered you
• How did you come to your own beliefs about government, services, regulation and taxes?
• The difference between what government must do, can do and should do
• How you will be helped or hurt if government gets smaller or bigger
• The tension between the government we want, and the one we can afford
• If government doesn't do it, who should? Who will?
• What would a smaller government look like? What would we do without?

Again, these are merely suggestions. Possibilities are as broad as your imagination.