To Vote or Not to Vote, Is That Really a Question?
Are students properly informed in political areas? The question abounds while adults worry about weather students will vote for political views or weather they just agree with Bruce Springsteen. Astin says that “A democracy works only to the extent that the voter is well informed”(Astin 97). Astin believes that the only way to have a properly functioning democracy is to have informed voters. This is the question of the day, why people vote, weather its for actual political views or for the sole purpose of agreeing with someone else.
For the most part students that want to know about political views are fully aware of the goings on in their government, where apathetic students do not know anything and have no concern with knowing anything. One of Astin’s ideas is to force a government class upon college students, making them learn and then allowing them to vote as informed citizens. I have a problem with this, I do not want to have another class to take in college since I already have to wade through the standard crap like history. The idea is sound, but the placement is wrong since in most Texas high schools students have a government class. The only problem is that many students take these classes with out learning much. My junior year in high school I took AP Government, a single semester course. My school offered both AP and regular government, I elected to go the extra mile and take in a college course, horrible idea. While in this class I soon realized that it was a futile attempt, and that I should just give up, so the afternoon after the first class I tried to transfer to the easier class, and that didn’t happen. In the end I got a thirty-seven in the class, needless to say I got the opportunity to attempt the class again senior year. Not being one to make the same mistake twice I opted for the standard government class, taught by the football coach. Needless to say this class was slightly less difficult and with the knowledge that I had gained from the little attention I had paid in AP I was able to swing through the class with an A. This is simply to show the extreme difference between the classes and to show people just how simple the standard government classes are. I’m not suggesting that people make the government classes as hard as my...
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...eason why America has fallen just because you decided to vote without knowing the facts. And after all its not that hard to learn, anyone can turn on the TV and get some information, even though “this particular medium is not doing an acceptable job” something is better than nothing(97). Perhaps some of these people could even go the extra mile and look up some facts in the newspaper, I mean my class was deemed the most apathetic class ever to graduate my high school, we had no prank, skit, and only about two people wrote on their little hats at the graduation, although some moron had the idea to write some apathy phrase we were entirely too uncaring to put forth that much effort, and I took the time to find what I needed to know to make up my decision of my own free will. The point that I am trying to make is that people need to know what they want in our government and vote for that, they need to leave all of the silly stuff behind and vote on the issues, and then our democracy will be at its finest point.
Works Cited
Astin, Alexander. “The Cause of Citizenship.” Experiencing Ideas. South Lake,
TX: Fountainhead P, 2004. 95-103.
For instance, Menand writes, “The fraction of the electorates that responds to substantive political argument is hugely outweighed by the fraction that responds to slogans, misinformation...random personal association.” Mass voters mostly pursue the wrong or irrelevant information that are irrelevant to the election; thus lead them to vote for the candidates which they do not really want. Their choices mostly lack rationalities. Many voters who are slightly informative think that they are participating in a certain issue and considering the value of the candidates; yet most of them do not have adequate information and knowledge in understanding the meaning of political terms. Voters lack judgment on their government and candidates, their minds are easily being brainwashed by a small amount of people who has informative approaches in participating governmental issue, and affect their
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).
...o think about what all this has to do with ensuring that our young adults have access to an education that is free of political influences.
The speakers in the film believe that the purpose of education is to create a public where democracy can thrive. This means creating a new generation of young adults that are highly knowledgeable and are able to make informed decisions about political subjects and can make their votes count when they are able to vote. They have the knowledge about how the government works and what they can do as an individual to make a difference in their community. They have the knowle...
Political philosopher and social theorist Thomas Sowell has once said, “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” It is inevitable to meet an ignorant person around each corner that one turns. It is up to the victim to either let the ignorant person corrupt him or to let the victim become smarter. One of America’s greatest activists, Martin Luther King, believed that “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” With this in mind, “The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all” (Kennedy).
Political inactivity on the part of young Americans stems from one fundamental source -- a general cynicism of the American political process. This disdain for politics is further perpetuated by a lack of voter education and a needlessly archaic voting procedure that creates barriers to voting where they need not exist. While many of these existing problems can be rectified with relative ease through the implementation of programs such as Internet voting and better voter education, such programs create only a partial solution.
One of the greatest problems America faces is the uninformed voter. Jonah Goldberg wrote an article in which he said, "The ignorance of the typical American when it comes to politics is often staggering." He does not mince his words in saying that he believes that normal people of society are not fit in knowledge to the extent of making a just decision of who should act as President. He is not the first to believe this however. The notion that society must be protected from itself when it comes to electing officials goes back to Ancient Greece.
...eople not voting! Americans are becoming less educated on the issues that they are facing as well as the candidates running at the time of office. However, according Longley (2011) ”Still, 93 percent of infrequent voters agreed that voting is an important part of being a good citizen and 81 percent of nonvoters agreed it is an important way to voice their opinions on issues that affect their families and communities” (pg. 1).
Elections are at the core of the American political system. They are the way we choose our government, the source of government authority, and a means by which the people can influence public policy. For most Americans, voting is the only form of political participation. Essential questions to ask concerning these issues are: Who votes and why? What influences people to become voters? And what influences how they vote? It is important to approach these issues from a sociological standpoint addressing such matters as socialization and social stratification.
I am responding to Micheal Schudson’s essay titled “America’s Ignorant Voter”. He makes several arguments against whether America having relatively ignorant voters poses a problem to our society, and whether it’s becoming worse over the years. One of the arguments he poses as to why Americans seem so clueless about political matters is due to the complexities of our nation’s political institutions.
unfair and wrong for political parties, or their affiliates, to sneakily find ways to keep college students from voting for them. This political manipulation could strike doubt in the government’s ability to hold true to its true purpose, which is to establish a government. for the people and for the people. Candidates are allowed to discuss their policies for OUR government, but turn around and try to keep certain demographics for. implementing their fair say in the election of our political representatives.
Let me take you back to being a sophomore in high school: fifteen-about-to-turn-sixteen-year-olds, beginning thoughts of college just blooming in their minds, and they are taking more challenging classes than ever before. Every year, classes are changed in schools in order to fulfill new requirements and the difficulty is increased in order to challenge the new students. These new classes and the amount of choices students now have between the different classes available now put new pressures on students that the older generations may not understand. Not only do students have the choice of electives, but now they have the choice of different mathematics, sciences, and English courses on a range of sometimes four different levels. With all these choices, students may have a hard time deciding which is the proper course and level to take. Unfortunately, there is one more pressure in the mix of this decision: the pressure to take advanced placement (AP) courses. More students are taking AP classes every year but the number of students who “bomb the AP exams is growing even more rapidly” (Simon). This leads into the idea that students are not getting more intelligent than the previous classes, but simply that there is too much pressure on them to take these AP courses. Students in high school are being pressured too much to take advanced placement courses whether or not they are academically qualified for them.
In addition, it isn’t feasible for a voter to comprehend the numerous offices and candidates in an election and how informed do voters need to be, in order for them to be confident in their choice. However, with the removal of straight-ticket voting, voter turnout may decrease, but the vote quality will increase due to an improved versed decision and in addition, an increase in the chance of a professional holding a government position. There are no excuses for voters to not be informed because there are various resources that determine an individual preferred political candidate. Through the use of the internet, websites offer political quizzes that matches a voter's beliefs with a candidate. For example, Isidewith.com is an online website that asks the participant various question about concerning issues in politics such as, abortion, , environmental, economic, and domestic policy issues. Based on the results, it will give the participant selections on the candidates that closely relates to their beliefs.
In this paper, the reasons why young people do not vote will be explored and solutions as to how to get them to vote will be proposed. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), there are five main reasons why young people don’t vote. The graph presented uses census survey data from 2010 for citizens 18-24. The graph was broken down into two groups, those who are and are not in college. The first reason cited was being away from home or out of town, 23% of college students stated this and only 5% of people not in college stated this.
... nation. Every person must understand how important his or her vote is. Don’t fall in to the third of non-voters; take the right to vote to heart, become informed about people and issues so you may contribute to the common good and to making the United States the best it can be.