In chapter one, Wattenberg discusses the declining trends of Americans who regularly read newspapers between the 1960’s and present day. This can be attributed the aging patterns among generations who frequently read newspapers as well as with the use of technology rising. Reading the newspaper is a habit that either is or is not developed by the time one reaches voting age. With this, newspapers have become an older generation’s primary source of information, however, are still the best source for political matters. Younger generations tend to be more computer literate and have grown up with television and media more accessible to them than the previous generation. These trends not only reflect in American culture, but in other countries worldwide such as Italy, and Germany. Quoting a 2003 fox news interview of President Bush, Wattenberg illustrates the vast decline of newspaper consumption; even the U.S. President isn’t reading newspapers (11). Using tables throughout chapter one to illustrate the drastic differences within the last 50 years, the author exemplifies a 35% point decrease from 1957 to 2004. He speculates that perhaps young adults don’t like to read, but proves that is not the case as surveys have shown that education levels have risen overall, and access to books and reading has also increased over the years; thereby concluding that young people read, but do not typically read the newspaper. While there are several newspaper websites available, young adults do not frequently read those websites either. Although TV news information is not as detailed as it is in newspapers, young people have an ability to make up for their disinterest in newspapers by watching the news headlines (30). Chapter one makes a strong case... ... middle of paper ... ...adults compared to older adults were less likely to respond that voting was extremely important for good citizenship (133). He concludes that it is too late for the generation of young adults that do not feel voting is an important civic responsibility, however, that it is not too late to convince them that politics matter by showing them that they are giving their opportunity to make important decisions that may impact their lives to others who have different ideas. One may agree with Wattenberg’s idea that habits follow people throughout their lives instead of changing as they cycle in life. His personal accounts are an impactful way to illustrate the importance of building a sense of duty at a young age and carrying that responsibility throughout one’s life. Works Cited Wattenberg, Martin P. Is Voting For Young People?. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. Print.
Dalton begins by asking what a good citizen is. He doesn’t give an outright answer of what he thinks a good citizen is, but allows the reader to decide for themselves. Those in political and academic worlds contend that too few in the younger generation are voting and are the primary source of decline. They volunteer, but are disengaged from politics. Dalton disputes this by saying they may not be turning out to vote in high numbers, but are participating in other ways such as volunteering, demonstrating, and protesting, and calls these the new norms of citizenship.
It is our civic right and duty to actively participate in governmental affairs. This recent election really highlighted the divide in opinion regarding the importance of governmental participation. “To many, our democratic system seems so broken that they have simply lost faith that their participation could really matter,” West writes in his essay entitled The Deep Democratic Tradition in America. Young people feel unimportant and irrelevant, which explains the lack in turnout from young voters ages 18-29. However, it wasn’t just young voters that didn’t turnout. Millions of eligible voters didn’t show up for the 2016 elections. A democracy without active participants is a democracy bound for
In “You’re 16, You’re Beautiful and You’re a Voter,” author Anya Kamenetz states her belief that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen. Kamenetz gives several premises to her argument.
It has become a growing trend in the 1990's that college students do not take advantage of their right to vote and to take part in the democratic system. In fact, only one out of every three individuals in the 18 to 24 age group cast a ballot in the 1996 presidential election. College students ranked as the least represented demographic" (http://www.idsnews.com/ news/2000.07.31/campus/2000.07.31.students.html). Students do not want to vote for many different reasons. They are considered apathetic by society, but this isn't really the case. In actuality, students feel that politicians turn them away. Most importantly, students do not vote because they feel that they can't make a difference. Also, distance from their voting districts has been a problem for many people. Another major issue for students is that they are just too busy and don't make time to follow politics closely. In polling freshman at Manhattanville College, I discovered that all these are true. The effects of this may be catastrophic. Politicians need to start including and interesting the people of my generation in order to keep democracy thriving.
In Texas, there have been many concerns about voting and elections due to political changes in recent decade. Just like other Americans, Texas displays many of the same voting tendencies. It is important that one participate in the political process, political participation incorporates how citizens influence the selection of issues they are interested or political leaders. “Citizen’s actions are intended to solve public problems through political means” (American). Political participation is more than just pertaining to a certain party. Individuals can become involved in certain phases of the electoral process by participating in politics in many ways, either by voting, campaigning for candidates, and writing to their legislators. The media also plays a huge part in providing avenues for political participation.
Tisch, Jonathan . "Why Young People Don’t Vote." THE CENTER FOR INFORMATION & RESEARCH ON CIVIC LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT. Tufts University, 13/05/11. Web. 03 Oct 2013. .
Wandering through the month of November, seeing that election is around the corner. Many polls are being put together for a really important event. You ask yourself, “Does age really have to matter to participate in these moments? Why can’t I use my voice?” At the end of the race, seeing who's the next presidents or new laws that can one day be very affected not just you but for everyone else.
This growing sense of political cynicism rooted in the millennial generation can help to explain a shift in the norms of citizenship. Dalton points out in his work, The Good Citizen: How a Younger Generation Is Reshaping American Politics, that the Millennial generation is expounding the trend away from a more traditional definition of citizenship. What he refers to as a duty-based citizen primarily focuses on voting, serving in the military, obeying all laws and supporting the government. This is in contrast to the engaged citizen, who does not voter regularly, but is more inclined to participate in protests. (Dalton). A greater level of cynicism in Millennials would easily explain the negative effects, that being subpar voting numbers, as well as the positive effects, the greater likelihood of questioning the established process, both electorally and as it pertains to the news media.
Voting is important for our country, it's how we choose who is going to lead us. But compared to other countries, not that many people participate. In my opinion, the best way to fix this issue is by lowering the voting age from 18, to 16. Many other countries have done it, so why not ours, too?
Keeping the voting age at eighteen is better because most people are grown up by that age. People that are eighteen and older know things about politics. Eighteen and older are more reliable then younger people in this world. People that are eighteen and older can think like adults if they put there minds to it.
I was raised in a household where voting was viewed as a privilege, responsibility and above all, a civic duty. Voting is taken very seriously by my parents and this was clearly communicated to us, their children. My dad, in particular, would always tell us that when it comes to choosing who to vote for, one must pay close attention to the candidate’s personality, political background and his or her platform. For years I’ve observed my parents’ attitudes towards the significance of voting, and being immersed in that environment molded my attitude towards voting and who to vote for.
Since Lawless and Fox’s study is the first of its kind, there is no way to measure whether young people have ever been interested in politics. Thus, there is no foolproof way to compare current young people to young people in the past. According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, about 10% of Americans are “political bystanders” (Gao), meaning that they are not registered to vote and do not participate in politics in any way. 38% of these individuals are under 30 years old. This pattern is not completely unusual. As individuals age, there is increased political interest. This change is most likely because political legislation tends to affect older individuals more. For most young people, politics feels like a distant, irrelevant system. Therefore, if a large number of young Americans aren’t even voting, it is fairly unsurprising that they also don’t want to run for political office. However, there is a silver lining. In their survey, Lawless and Fox asked young Americans to rank the importance of keeping up with news and current events. 71% of young people considered “keeping up with current events” (Lawless and Fox 37) important. This statistic is reassuring, as maintaining an understanding of the news typically spurs interest on particularly controversial topics. This interest could incite passion for a topic or a
I feel that, for the most part, mine along with others in my age group’s concerns are not addressed by the political process. To answer this, I took a look at political socialization and how I was socialized politically. Some of my concerns include: minimum wage, social security, pollution and global warming, school loans, and legal ages. There are many reasons why, that I understand, that my generation’s opinions of these issues are not addressed, which I will talk about throughout this paper. Overall, the political process does not address our concerns and voices.
I intend to conduct research into the widespread fall of newspaper sales, and how the Internet is causing this, if it is even. Furthermore I will branch out into whether the journalists themselves are to blame, or simply because of citizens’ lack of interest in news, whether it is in the newspaper or the television. I will also investigate how people read their news; do they purchase a broadsheet? What interests them? How much does the Internet take the place of the newspaper? These are all questions and more that I intend to research thoroughly, perhaps with the help of the general public.
The newspaper industry presaged its decline after the introduction of the television and televised broadcasting in the 1950s and then after the emergence of the internet to the public in the 1990s and the 21st century with its myriad of media choices for people. Since then the readership of printed media has declined whilst digital numbers continue to climb. This is mostly due to television and the internet being able to offer immediate information to viewers and breaking news stories, in a more visually stimulating way with sound, moving images and video. Newspapers are confined to paper and ink and are not considered as ‘alive’ as these other mediums.