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| Me handing out fliers at the football game for the politico panel |
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| Me and Spencer writing the intro for the politico panel |
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| Me ushering at the politico panel |
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| More ushering! |
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| Me, Spencer and Pov setting up at the panel |
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| Everyone at the panel |
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| The actual panel going on. |
My Service Hour Summary
My service hours took place under the political participation category of volunteering on this project. The first two hours I spent volunteering was sitting at a booth helping voters to register to vote for the 2010 mid-term elections. Although fairly unsuccessful, we did get a few voters to register. We also handed out fliers about the Deer Valley Override which was to appear on the ballot. We handed out many fliers and educated many people about the override. The next two hours I spent volunteering was similar to the first two. This time instead of sitting at a booth waiting for people to approach me, I walked around at the school football game attempting to talk to people and convince them to attend our school political panel. We handed out many fliers but we weren’t very successful based on the attendance at the panel. The next 2 hours I spent being politically active was pre-panel planning. Another student and I wrote the intro that would be said at the panel to introduce the candidates we were presenting. The last 4 hours volunteering were spent setting up the political panel and attending the panel which ended up being very interesting. This consisted of setting up the stage for a proper and formal presentation as well as listening to the candidates speaks about what their intentions were as officials in our government.
Experiences and Implications
My experience contributing to society and volunteering was overall pretty good. When we first were assigned the project I honestly thought that political participation would be rather boring. But it turned out to be pretty interesting. I noticed that it was very hard for me to speak up and talk to people when I was handing out fliers. I definitely give kudos to politicians for being able to speak publically so well and I realized how important having that skill is. The next experience I will remember is planning, organizing, and setting up the political panel. I thought it was amazing how a group of determined people and a little organization could develop an important community event like we did. I would have been happier with a larger turn out but it doesn’t matter; the experience was still the same. Also I was actually kind of surprised that representatives running for congress were willing and able to attend a simple panel at a high school. I honestly assumed that we would be of least importance on their agenda. Overall the panel turned out to be very interesting. The questions we asked the representatives were excellent and brought up interesting topics that were exciting to hear discussed. When one hears about a political panel especially in a flier I’m sure they would imagine that it would be incredibly boring which I know believe is just a misconception. I think people get turned off by the word “politics” and assume that nothing could exist with that word except boredom, but with great questions about modern, popular topics it wasn’t boring at all. I believe one of the most resonating experiences besides the panel was the results of handing out the fliers for the Deer Valley Override. Once we found the results of the override and realized that it only passed by a couple hundred votes, I realized that we may have had an actually impact on this proposition’s outcome. We may have convinced most or all of the people we talked to into voting to pass the override. The whole reason it passed instead of failing could have been largely contributed to our efforts. So overall I had a great experience and learned that political participation really isn’t as boring or pointless as some believe and that my vote really does count.
Political participation is important to society mostly because it educates and prepares voters for the polls. Many times political parties are the main contributors to the political participation effort with helping voters register, educating voters on their parties beliefs and even funding campaigns with time or money. This is essential to society because without it no one would be educated at all about politicians and may be susceptible to being easily manipulated or forced into the belief that their vote doesn’t count. Today not many people participate because, like mentioned before, some people see politics as boring or pointless since their vote doesn’t count. But on the other hand, many people do participate politically and their efforts do change opinions. All the signs you see down the road and all the commercials we see of politicians or important issues are forms of political participation. Many people change their votes because of signs or commercials which show how important political participation can be. If you personally create a political panel or hand out fliers like I personally did, it may have an effect on voters and it may convince them into voting the way you broadcasted. Overall political participation is very important to society because it educates voters, changes opinions, and increases voter turnout.
Political Participation
Political participation is the citizens right to seek influence in political affairs (Klein 1). Political participation can exist in many forms. Some of these forms include voting in elections, joining a political party, standing as a candidate in an election, joining a non-governmental advocacy group, or participating in a demonstration (Klien 1). All of these forms of participation are important to the American way of politics. It is essential that people become politically active to maintain our current system. Without the public staying active, it is easy for officials and others in positions of power to take advantage of the situation and pass legislature with little opposition. “The absence of citizen involvement carries a cost in that governments have a freer hand to operate without much public scrutiny.” (“Political Participation” par. 8). Most of the political participation in the United States is through the 2 main political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. Many people associate themselves with a political party and get active through them by contributing to these two group’s activities. Some of these activities involve raising funds for the party, advertising, helping voters register, and campaigning. Usually if you join a group it means you have a strong political belief and you’re interested in making a difference in society. Contributing to these groups will help the parties’ goals as well as your personal goals politically.
The most common trend associated with political participation is that as people become more educated, voter turnout increases. Therefore, usually most of older adult compared to young adults would be more likely to vote. This is an important fact because the more active one is in politics the more likely his or her word or opinions will be heard. So if the most people who show up at the polls are older white males, the majority of the votes will be most likely given to the Republican Party. Voter turnout has steadily decreased over the past 20 years (“Political Participation” par. 7) Over 40 percent of Americans don’t participate politically. There are many suggested reasons for low voter turnout. One explanation for low turnout is that the voting process has become too complex. Another explanation is that the parties just don’t have enough support and funds as they used to (“Political Participation” par. 3). But, bad voter turnout could also be contributed to the fact the more and more voters believe that their votes do not count. People fail to see, especially in national and state wide elections, that their votes really do count. This is probably the leading cause of bad voter turnout. Whatever the reason, many less voters have been showing up at the polls.
The benefits of being politically active are huge. Being politically active helps the government, the community, and one’s self. Political activity helps the government because it helps them understand the consensus of the population. If only 60 percent of the population contributes to elections or any other political activities, no government official would ever be able to obtain an accurate sample of what the population was thinking or supporting. The congress and president may pass a bill that is unsupported by the people and no one would object or protest. This is harmful to the American way governing because it allows for corruption and could lead to the misuse of the constitution. Political participation is helpful to the community in many ways; it helps bring attention to local political matters, it prevents abuse, and it gets the community active. Many local issues may be independent of larger state issues and could only be recognized through political activity. For example if a small town is in need of some street repairs it is up to the citizens to be politically active and bring the matter up to their representatives. Just like with the larger government matters, being active prevents abuse on the small local communities. Lastly, political participation helps one’s self. It helps you get active and become passionate about an issue.
Bibliography
Klein, Hans. “The Right to Political Participation and the Information Society.” (June 1, 2005). 1-7. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
“Political Participation.” The Social Studies Help Center. (2010). n.pag. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
