I think this is an individual choice based on weighing all the factors. As I'll say below - it varies a bit from place to place and person to person how I would think it is best to participate.

I, myself, simply vote a straight ticket by by party in all but local elections, and - occasionally - state level elections.

If the GOP was not steadily moving to the right, nationally, while the Dems largely stay still (according to most best efforts at measuring the party position) and if the GOP was less unified I would be more judicious there as well. As it stands the GOP Is simply too ideological, irrational, and tactical these days in its philosophy of practical governance for me to consider. This was not always so.

In local and state elections where the parties are more diverse, generally closer together ideologically, where direct action is more useful, and where my direct stake in the outcome is largest (most relevant policy in the US comes from state and local government though you wouldn't think do consuming the increasingly nationalized news), and this is where individual attentiveness pays off the most so I pay much more attention to both primaries and general elections in this domain.

However the degree to which the above holds varies from state to state and district to district.

I think I'll say a bit on how I view elections.

I see them as republican (small 'r') elections rather than democratic elections. The interests and activity of modern nation states and their importance for advancing our collective welfare is sufficiently large that the number of issues and decisions are too large to feasibly 'control' in any fine way. The number of choices on offer would need to be impractically large and you would need to spend your whole day doing politics; we would all starve without a class of slaves to keep the lights on.

As a consequence, political parties organize and compete by offering competing packages of policies and people and then citizens of the Republic (or constitutional monarchy for some of you :-) register their preferences regarding what direction you believe the state should go based on the choices on offer and the specific constitutional and electoral rules governing this process. Without these parties we would almost certainly have less ability to shape policy.

Therefore, it is our duty to become sufficiently informed about the choices on offer, the consequences of those choices (learn about the political system) and register our preference all the time remembering that one is just contributing his/her signal to the larger republican cacophony of voices.

Further, if you are very motivated to influence policy... Rather than whining about how one's brilliance isn't directly translated into policy or that no party perfectly represents you (I mean come on; adulthood in society IS compromise. Whoever told people democracy is about getting whatever each individual wants was a fool) than one should become involved in local or party politics with greater detail.

I think realistically, if one reads a major newspaper daily, seeks a little local and state level information independently, and makes some effort to understand his politics works and the issues that this choice and the vote should take no more than 45 minutes a day on average...

Which I think is a small price to pay for civilization and the security of our fellows is it not? We are so fortunate to have such duties, freedom, influence, and security if you look at the history and current lot of humanity.

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