Two senators from opposite parties “discussing” an upcoming vote.
Here is your last video, and perhaps the last piece of a puzzle that I have offered. You may have been curious as to why you have learned about human behavior at the same time you learned about government processes and organization.
In the study of government and political science, the first thing a student learns is that the government’s fundamental duty is to use or not use government power to solve a problem. Notice, I didn’t say ethically. That is a secondary concern in many circles because there is nothing the government can or will do without people doing the work, the voting, the protesting, and on and on. Too many people make the mistake of praising or blaming the government, the agency, or congress – “congress is filled with liars!” Well, that is not fully accurate, I presume not everyone in congress is a liar. In reality, all politics is local or rather – personal. The blame or praise of something the government did, really begins and ends with the actual people involved. Someone made a decision, or someone acted or did not act, engaged or did not engage the power of government. These people, of course, are just like us. They can be persuaded or manipulated; create fear or can be afraid; strong or weak, convinced or convincing. All of them are human and like the picture above, they can all be influenced and are certainly being influenced every day.
Now watch the following video:
Now based on the class assignments, class discussions, your textbook, and other sources, defend your understanding of American politics. I want you to explain why you should care about the political process. Why does it matter to you? And even if it doesn’t, I want you to argue against yourself to explain why it is! A wonderful person I know once said, “The people’s voice can’t be heard, if I don’t speak up…” how can you speak up?
Political scientists say that apathy is in fact a political position, and in all honesty, politicians rely heavily on citizens who are apathetic so they can carry out their own plans. A much smaller minority of people vote in every election and seem to carry forward the political process. However, every election has an outcome and a consequence. These may be large or small, such as voting for local library funding, to voting for our next president. Mobs for lack of a better word can be created and used to push and sway public opinion, and then they seemingly disappear if the election goes the way the mob “wanted”. Can you compare the events in Spin and the LA Riots to the same issue presented in the BLM Riots of 2019/20? Where did the mobs go and why? This should be a question all of us ask, in the same way, we might ask, how and why did we suddenly invade another country after 9/11 only to end up leaving in chaos decades later and not taking the weapons we brought there? Wasn’t the whole narrative to prevent terrorism not make it stronger? These things and many others happen because the vast number of the population is or is not directly engaged in the political process.
So your assignment is to write a minimum two-page double-spaced paper using MLA formatting and containing at least three outside sources explaining why it is important to pay attention to politics and to learn the truth about candidates, agencies, and issues that involve the government in your life.
When you complete your thoughts about why you should be engaged, answer the following questions in your essay as your concluding statements.
What do you think influences your vote and engagement the most and how do you overcome these influences?
How can you effectively use power and persuasion to achieve your goals?
Has this class changed your opinion of politics?