The topic of citizen participation and voter turnout in local elections has several different aspects to consider that are not always readily apparent. Often, when someone thinks of citizen participation in local governments and the community relations, they think of voting in an election or some form of affiliation with a political party, which is not necessarily the case. Peering into the local government decision-making process and addressing common problems can have a substantial effect voter turnout, that is historically lower than state and federal voting participation. By looking into the main reasons citizens do and do not turn out for local elections can help local governments decide on the best ways to increase public participation …show more content…
People find their selves busy with normal daily lives they are still contributing to the community. But, people are going out and volunteering in their communities in many ways such as serving in community outreach programs, feeding citizens that are less fortunate, religious outreach programs, and working with the youth. In fact, the communitarian view emphasizes that citizens working together and understanding one another in the community may be as important as voting in local elections (Dye & Macmanus, 2015). Therefore, participation in local governments may not be what you would expect, but it is still essential to the community.
Many factors can influence the local political office holder's decision-making process; representation is one of them. Representation is when a person in an elected office tends to vote to reflect the will of their constituents (Dye & Macmanus, 2015). Their socioeconomic background may also sway them, but that does not always coincide with the intention of the public. Consequently, council members share a lot of common interest as the community they serve, so the policy-making of the council member is a reflection of
On the national civics assessment, “two-thirds of 12th graders scored below ‘proficient’…and only 9 percent could list two ways a democracy benefits from citizen participation” (O’Connor and Romer 4). The information provided clarifies just how little students know about democracy. Without education on the subject, they are unaware as to how their government contribution is beneficial and why it is needed in the first place. The students, because of their lack of understanding, therefore choose to not take part in their government and fail to carry out their duties as a citizen. The authors provide more research that shows “the better people understand our history and system of government, the more likely they are to vote and participate in the civic life” (O’Connor and Romer 8).
"Miller light and bud light…either way you end up with a mighty weak beer!" This is how Jim Hightower (a Texan populist speaker) described the choices that the U.S. electorate had in the 2000 elections. This insinuates that there is a clear lack of distinction between the parties. Along with numerous others, this is one of the reasons why the turnout is so low in the U.S. elections. In trying to explain the low figures at the U.S. elections, analysts have called American voters apathetic to indifferent to downright lazy. I disagree that the 50% (in recent elections) of voters that fail to turnout to vote are lazy and that they have just reason not too. I will also show that the problem lies within the system itself in that the institutional arrangements, electoral and governmental, do not create an environment that is conducive to mass participation. I will address these main issues and several others that have an effect on voter participation. In doing so I will compare America to other established democracies.
Decision making in public organizations can range from how to carry out everyday tasks to value questions that can shape people’s lives for years to come. It is important in these situations to ask for public input to make sure that the best decision is made for everyone who will be affected. Citizen participation in government has been practiced in the United States since its conception, the forums for the participation have changed but citizen input is still a vital part of the decision making process in American public administration.
When America was first established, they had the highest voting turnouts ever in American history. Ever since, America’s voting turn-out has dropped (Fortin). The reason for the high turn outs were because American colonists wanted change from the British’s electoral system. As history writes, American colonist rebel and over time becomes one of the greatest countries ever. Today, Americans are one of the worst countries in vote to registration as they rank 120 in the world (Pintor). Over the summer, I got to learn more about Ohio’s electoral system and voting turn outs in a first hand experience. A decreasing number of voting to registration is not only a national problem, but a local issue as well and there are creative ideas in fixing these
The literature reveals many conflicting theories on the relationship between homeownership and civic participation. While most scholars agree that homeownership increases civic participation, the underlying reasons explaining this causal relationship are often contradictory. Contemporary scholarly interest in this topic seems to be motivated by the recent sub-prime mortgage crisis and historical policies that have promoted homeownership in the U.S. Other noteworthy trends include differing operational definitions of civic participation and efforts to increase social capital and civic participation in lower income urban neighborhoods. The following summary offers a snapshot into the literature’s most prevalent themes concerning this topic.
Civic engagement is promoting the quality of life in a community through both political and non-political process. The more we have on our brain the more stressed we are and the less empathy we feel for others and reduce our own happiness. Worrying about something that’s going to happen can affect the brain from functioning effectively on that moment. When the mind is absent, the body is usually absent too.
In our American government class, we had an great opportunity on participating in the Civic Engagement Project. Each of us can pick up a topic that we are interested in, and joined the activity offered from the agency that is related to our topic. I participated in RAINN Day activity which was lead by Women’s leadership Project under the Center of Civic Engagement. Attending in this activity helped me to understand more about what RAINN Day is, and learned more about the sexual violence on collage campus. The RAINN Day activity which was hold this year was to call on attention of college students to protect themselves from the sexual violence on campus.
Municipal Council is the first line of government the general public can easily identify with and feel at ease to approach. Education of the general public on voting procedures is crucial. It is fair that most people are generally confused or uneducated when it comes to their electoral education and responsibilities. If the general voting population understood the process, access to candidates, feel comfortable with voicing their opinions and feel heard then it may garner more interest in the democratic process. However, unless the issue at hand affects people directly it is likely they won't engage.
Civic engagement means helping out in the community and ultimately making the world a better place. Personally, I have a soft spot for those in poverty and struggling to make ends meet. Those people can be very stressed around the holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I try and help make things a little easier for them. My church emphasizes helping those people out around the holidays and as I have gotten older, I have taken more responsibility for helping the less fortunate out myself. I have been running fundraisers and food drives to collect the necessities for Thanksgiving and Christmas, in correspondence with the Adopt-a-Family organization. I choose to hand deliver whatever was collected for families to their doorsteps just
Citizen participation is a distinct concept to different people in different places all around the world. Basically the civic duty of citizens is to vote, influence governance through consumer choice, the demand driven aggregation, exit and voice outcomes. The civic duty of citizens as voters and subjects of the political system has no doubt been increasingly challenged by the view that citizens have a legitimate right to have a say in governance processes that affect them and that this right should be guaranteed institutionally. Citizen or Public participation is the process by which public concerns, needs and values are incorporated into governmental decision making (Creighton 2005). Public participation is also seen as an essential means
Commitment to community is a requirement for contemporary Americans and vital to its survival. “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is the unselfish act of sharing: from a cup of sugar to a wealth of information to the guardianship of all children involved and the protection of every individual in that said community. Whether that community consists of the “Classic Neighborhood, those with a common set of goals, or those who share a common identity” the thread that holds this matrix together is always woven into the shared identity as well as responsibility of all involved. (Redmond, 2010). A community cannot continue to exist through the will of withdrawn individuals who arms only embrace themselves and have no involvement whatsoever with neighbors one door away.
listens to the people of the city: How could they you represent someone without listening to their concerns?
Unlike many other forms of government rule, democracy does not discriminate against political affiliation or ideology. My personal experiences with constituents on the phone, both for and against various bills in the State Assembly, underline how highly involved and engaged the demos are in local political affairs. Constituents, as a collective, have the power and will to affect the passage or denial of a bill in the Senate or Assembly simply by voicing their opinion as a group. Personalized e-mails and letters to the Assemblyman on issues ranging from animal rights to after-school programs are examples of the democratic process working in conjunction with majority consent. Democracy permits citizens to voice their opinions and offer concern or support for legislation. In addition, constituents will voice their concerns or co...
As Jennifer Self wrote in relation to civic responsibility , “It is comprised of actions and attitudes associated with democratic governance and social participation.” Civic responsibility consists of participation in church, volunteer work, and in the government. When people come together with a sense of common purpose for their community’s common good they are showing an interest in helping out others. In one instance the people of Bakersfield, California all came together to donate two semi-trucks full of needed goods to Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas, as reported by Elizabeth Sanchez. It is amazing what a community can do when all of its citizens come together for the greater good.
As community members we all have rights and duties. Our community owes us our everyday rights. And we owe our community to be active members; we should do what we are capable of in order to payback our community and work towards its sustainability and betterment. This concept in its simplest form is "Civic Engagement". Civic engagement means researching, working for, and involving in a better society. This kind of engagement is based on our participation as community members. It is also based on us creating initiatives to invest in a better sustained healthier society. For us to engage civically in our society, we first start by scrutinizing and observing the public concerns. Then we can reflect upon them and apply the concept of "Civic Engagement"