Preview

Political Participation

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1079 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Political Participation
The most common way citizens participate at the federal level is through voting in presidential elections. However, not many people know that there are also things you can do at the state and local levels to participate. Of course, there is voting for a new mayor and judge, but what are other things besides voting people can engage in? One option may be judging articles in grocery and book stores for their accuracy. This method, will keep citizens informed on political issues going on around their area. With new advancing media, access to direct sites, broadcasts, and basically the whole internet all the information needed is at your fingertips. Another way to participate is by contacting local officials. Appealing to representatives is an …show more content…
All of these option put together can common objectives like a well oiled machine. The younger generation is taking participation by storm where almost 70 percent of high school students and young adults aged eighteen to thirty report that they have been involved in community activities (“Other Forms of Political Participation, 2015). Participating in support activities is considered to be political involvement. Attending events that are government sponsored like the “Race for the Cure” are considered participating. Like interest groups and ads these events are designed to the raise awareness on a particular issue while raising money for it. This is another way of getting informed because as people learn about these issues they would be persuaded to become involved. A different form of political participation is symbolic participation. Simple everyday acts such as saluting the American flag and singing the national anthem are acts of supporting the political system. However, symbolic participation like refusing to vote because they are not happy with the current government is not always subsidiary to the political …show more content…
You won’t find these citizens sitting around and procrastinating on making a change. People with voice are hungry for change today. However, unlike its counterpart exit, voice is constructive with the potential to achieve extensive change. These people are the ones who would contact officials and discuss political issues. In addition, they would offer their own input and solutions to solve problem. They are not afraid to seek outside help nor bring political issues to work with them. Citizens with voice are most likely the ones who would be participating in community groups or

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Civic Participation

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Do you think there can be too much participation in the community? Well according to some there isn’t enough participation going on in our communities at all. Citizen participation may be a process in which people take part voluntary or legally forced to do either alone or in a group. According to our book, communitarian view praises citizen participation not just in the voting but by participating in groups and working with their neighbors to solve the problems of the community. One way to participate is volunteering as civic participation. Civic means working to make a difference in the civic life of the communities through both political and non-political processes. You can volunteer at different places, for instance: children groups, shelters,…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Comradecare Case Study

    • 1460 Words
    • 6 Pages

    However, the only individuals who have the authority and ability to carry out the proposed solution are those who have been elected into political office. As Honors students, direct action with the proposal is out of reach. However, political involvement and advocacy are the two components that give us an opportunity to indirectly influence the direct influencers through activism and voting. Volunteering has temporary benefits, such as volunteering at a Hispanic health clinic or non profit hospital such as Trinity Health, however, “We have to recognize what volunteers can do, and what we need other institutions to do” (Bell). In this case, institutions do what their policies instruct them to do, and those policies are formed by powerful figures, who are influenced by politicians, who ultimately, are influenced by the active political participation of the people. Therefore, it is our job as students and as citizens to advocate for the cause and to participate in political activism, so that our voices are heard by those who have direct influence on the solution at…

    • 1460 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When a Canadian is asked to name their local Member of Parliament, we all can’t help but laugh at the people who literally don’t know anything about our political system. Unfortunately, the ignorance of politics has been divided into many groups of Canadians, which demonstrates why some people are not informed or interested in discussing political matters. Elisabeth Gidengil, writer of Citizens, explicitly repeats in her novel that Age, Material circumstances, education and gender gaps are factors of being politically engaged (Gidengil 173). Without a doubt, not everyone has those same components to become an active citizen and it’s unfortunate that some choose not to get politically involved. Consequently, the absence of political knowledge has a big effect on Canada because with more uninformed citizens, leads to more societal problems. In this paper, I argue the success of Canada’s democracy is heavily dependent on politically engaged citizens and by having more Canadians convey their concerns, the authorities can realize what political issues to extricate. The result of increasing civic engagement is both a sophisticated…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    List the 3 ways to get involved in activism; Keep the action simple, Connect with real like campaigns, understand your limitations.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He points to civic engagement which influences the quality of citizens’ lives, different institutions, and the government. High civic engagement was measured by high voter turnout, newspaper readerships, and community groups and organizations. Since the 1960s, the measure of all these crucial factors have been…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pressure groups empower public interest to be addressed by government, this in turn exerts some influence in public decision making within government. However it is specifically the interests of independent issues that lead to concern, due to the strategies used to gain their objectives as well as the disproportionate leverage and capacity that certain lobbies are able to exercise. pressure groups are considered a way of overcoming the democratic short fall of political participation being limited to a vote casted every five years, resulting in the public possessing a small amount of influence on decision making amid elections and little to no representation for the minorities. Pressure groups enhance the quality of democracy by developing participation to the political system. New matters and issues are able to reach the political agenda, so that facilitates societal progress. examples of this include feminist and environmentalist movements, this helps to improve the quality of government policy and…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Congress Dbq

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Obviously, it is difficult to keep track of a representatives every move in the deep dark chamber of congress[Doc G]. In some congress people’s opinion, this anonymity leads them to believe that they don’t have any responsibility to their constituents. This is a classic example a a psychological phenomenon called groupthink, in which anonymity provides a cover for risky and generally worse decision. But, because of the anonymity and the feeling of a responsibility to political parties, the central goal of a legislator can be skewed. A solution to this problem could be the increasing involvement people in the processes of democracy[Doc D]. This should also be the goal of the congress people, not ties to an established political party or group. The people need to be constantly engaged in the processes of their democracy, not only the presidential election. Politicians have to be elected consistently, this should not be intertwined with getting in the favor of political organizations they are associated with [Doc C]. Establishing a role to the people, and the people a role creates a system beneficial for everyone involved. Then political election will be the result of what policy they make, and what policies people vote…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As adults, American citizens leave behind a legacy every day that they exercise their rights. This includes participating in elections, whether it be on a local or national level. We can clearly see the legacies that our elected officials leave on the citizens. Here in my hometown, our city councilmen decided to implement a tax on the water bill that would be applied over the course of the next three years in order to renovate our dilapidated roads. While many people cried out in outrage because they saw the immediate effects that the tax had on their monthly bill, many more failed to realize that the long term effects of the roads being repaired far outweighed the slight increase on their sewage rates. These councilmen, elected by the citizens, are leaving behind a legacy for their town in the form of better roads. On the national level, when we vote and elect for presidents, we are shaping the future of our nation. It could be argued that the presidents of this country have greatly influenced and shaped the way America is today. This is evident in monumental ways: Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery, FDR signed the New Deal, and Teddy Roosevelt headed the Panama Canal project. When you are demonstrate your rights and actively complete your civic duties, you are leaving behind a legacy, no matter how small it may…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Political Participation in the electoral college has much more than just voting in the United States. It comes from being able to speak out, assemble and associate,the ability to take part in the conduct of public affairs, the opportunity to register as a candidate, to campaign, to be elected and to hold office at all levels of government. Being able to speak out is political participation because discussing key points in society can share ideas in the government. Assemble and associate will create a strong government in the United States. Having the ability to take part in the conduct of public affairs is a big part of public participation because it discusses the cons of government. In politics to be elected and to hold a office at all levels of government needs participation in campaigning. Political Participation takes place in so many parties in the government.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Citizens do not directly vote on specific issues or make ultimate decisions. Rather, the citizens will elect officials they believe represent their views well and, majority willing, that official will win. An example of this would be electing the President or members of Congress in the United States. Within that, states also elect local and state officials to represent them. The elected persons for particular positions should be aware about the problems and the popular opinions about those problems for the people they represent. This system was created as a foundation for representing the citizens of America rather than founding a direct…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most important aspects of being an active citizen who contributes to a community is leadership. As a citizen, if you see something that you think that something needs to change, and you do not see someone working towards…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with, we need to be more engaging when it comes to participating in civic engagements. Civic engagement only means trying to improve your community…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Goodall once stated, along these lines, that each person makes a difference but it’s up to that person what type of difference they want to make. Young people these days are put into the category that they cannot make a difference, they are belittled and made out to be careless. In turn these young people start to believe that they can’t make a difference therefore they don’t bother trying. This affect is seen in youth in their involvement in politics, the voting rate in Canada for youth voters has been declining for years according to Elections Canada , young adults therefore don’t appear all that interested in politics.…

    • 1964 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Interest Groups

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Interest Groups Interest Group is defined as "an organized body of individuals who try to influence public policy. " This system is designed so that interest groups would be an instrument of public influence on politics to create changes, but would not threaten the government much. Whether this is still the case or not is an important question that we must find out. Interest groups play many different roles in the American political system, such as representation, participation, education, and program monitoring. Representation is the function that we see most often and the function we automatically think of when we think of interest groups.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Iapt Essay

    • 5430 Words
    • 22 Pages

    Arnstein S R (1971). “Eight rungs on the ladder of citizen participation”. in Cahn SE, Cahn E, Passett BA (eds) Citizen Participation: effecting community change. New York, Praeger Publications.…

    • 5430 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Best Essays