• Polls have also been described as a tool to help support democratic values. o This is primarily because it allows politicians to evaluate public opinion upon their policies without having to wait until next Election Day. o However, many critics tend to counter this statement by pointing out that it influences our leaders a bit too much in their decision making. o For example, if polls had existed back then, such famous events like Louisiana o Purchase or ratification of the Constitution might not have occurred.
• Despite these views, straight research has come to reveal that the invention of polls is primarily utilized as a storm for the government to figure out how they will appeal to the public and get them to approve …show more content…
o Therefore, if people know such little knowledge on what issues are even present on their world, then there is no way they would know the presidential candidates’ stances on them. o In fact, it was found that citizens of the United States suck at knowing Geography and where all the countries of the world even are located. o This is extremely ironic considering how easily information can be retrieved in today’s day of age with the Internet.
• This has overall formed the “paradox of mass politics” which basically states that even though the public knowledge are at such low levels, the government still finds a way to operate as efficiently as it does even though power comes from the people.
• Another aspect that is pointed out is how the amount of trust everyone has within the government has been plummeting over the recent years. o It all started in the 1960’s with the Vietnam War, as the government was skewing with the news publicized about the war. o Since then, the percentage of people who believed the government could always be trusted dropped …show more content…
o Fun fact is that the differences between liberals and conservatives is where the concept of blue states and red states first came from. o However, despite the differences, all different groups can still have certain ideologies in common such as tolerance and acceptance for the LGBT.
How Americans Participate in Politics
• Political Participation- All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue; the most common means of political participation in a democracy is voting; other means include protest and civil disobedience. o Political analyst have come together and categorized all the different activities into two types: Conventional and unconventional. o Conventional is basically ways the government finds peaceful and acceptable to persuade government decisions while unconventional usually has violence or poses a threat to public safety.
• Even though majority of the population participate by simply voting, others attempt to send candidates money or help work on improving issues within their