Public Opinion and Democracy
Uploaded by spootyhead on Feb 19, 2007
Public Opinion and Democracy
Opinion and knowledge are two very important factors in the citizens of any successful democracy. All citizens should be aware of what is going on in their government and be able to formulate their own opinions on issues. A democracy cannot exist if people do not voice their feelings, and if only some do, you do not really have a democracy at all. Democracy comes from everyone being represented equally, and through voting and participation, everyone has a chance to make a difference. Our country and government were designed to give everyone a voice, so as we come closer and closer to equality, more and more people should be getting involved.
People need to be encouraged to get involved in politics and their government. Many people have no motivation to vote. It is as if they don’t care about the government. This is because of educational access, the media and its political presentation, the overpowering partisanship in the country and the fact that many people think that their single opinion cannot really change anything. In fact, if all the people who choose not to vote cast their ballots next term, there would begin to be a big change in things. There are other issues involving public opinion and where it is falling short in our democracy. These include some other informational short-cuts people use to make their opinions. People of the “mass” like to listen to what their peers have to say about things, they often judge the politicians themselves based on image alone, people fall into social groups and tend to follow, and most harmful to democracy, these people do not always understand the issues that they are voting for and how they can help and more importantly, harm society.
The first solution in getting the public more knowledge about voting would be to cut back the political spending on advertising and distribute it to educating people on the government. Media advertising is one of the biggest reasons voters are misinformed. With enough money, a candidate can say whatever they please. The more money a politician has backing them, the more the media gets too. Instead of talking about what one politician does well or what another one may have done wrong, debates could be held so that each politician is...