In chapter one, Wattenberg discusses the declining trends of Americans who regularly read newspapers between the 1960’s and present day. This can be attributed the aging patterns among generations who frequently read newspapers as well as with the use of technology rising. Reading the newspaper is a habit that either is or is not developed by the time one reaches voting age. With this, newspapers have become an older generation’s primary source of information, however, are still the best source for political matters. Younger generations tend to be more computer literate and have grown up with television and media more accessible to them than the previous generation. These trends not only reflect in American culture, but in other countries worldwide such as Italy, and Germany. Quoting a 2003 fox news interview of President Bush, Wattenberg illustrates the vast decline of newspaper consumption; even the U.S. President isn’t reading newspapers (11). Using tables throughout chapter one to illustrate the drastic differences within the last 50 years, the author exemplifies a 35% point decrease from 1957 to 2004. He speculates that perhaps young adults don’t like to read, but proves that is not the case as surveys have shown that education levels have risen overall, and access to books and reading has also increased over the years; thereby concluding that young people read, but do not typically read the newspaper. While there are several newspaper websites available, young adults do not frequently read those websites either. Although TV news information is not as detailed as it is in newspapers, young people have an ability to make up for their disinterest in newspapers by watching the news headlines (30). Chapter one makes a strong case...
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...adults compared to older adults were less likely to respond that voting was extremely important for good citizenship (133). He concludes that it is too late for the generation of young adults that do not feel voting is an important civic responsibility, however, that it is not too late to convince them that politics matter by showing them that they are giving their opportunity to make important decisions that may impact their lives to others who have different ideas. One may agree with Wattenberg’s idea that habits follow people throughout their lives instead of changing as they cycle in life. His personal accounts are an impactful way to illustrate the importance of building a sense of duty at a young age and carrying that responsibility throughout one’s life.
Works Cited
Wattenberg, Martin P. Is Voting For Young People?. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. Print.
On the national civics assessment, “two-thirds of 12th graders scored below ‘proficient’…and only 9 percent could list two ways a democracy benefits from citizen participation” (O’Connor and Romer 4). The information provided clarifies just how little students know about democracy. Without education on the subject, they are unaware as to how their government contribution is beneficial and why it is needed in the first place. The students, because of their lack of understanding, therefore choose to not take part in their government and fail to carry out their duties as a citizen. The authors provide more research that shows “the better people understand our history and system of government, the more likely they are to vote and participate in the civic life” (O’Connor and Romer 8).
Dalton begins by asking what a good citizen is. He doesn’t give an outright answer of what he thinks a good citizen is, but allows the reader to decide for themselves. Those in political and academic worlds contend that too few in the younger generation are voting and are the primary source of decline. They volunteer, but are disengaged from politics. Dalton disputes this by saying they may not be turning out to vote in high numbers, but are participating in other ways such as volunteering, demonstrating, and protesting, and calls these the new norms of citizenship.
Canada is a society built on the promise of democracy; democracy being defined as “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.” In order to operate at full potential, the people of Canada must voice their opinions and participate fully in the political system. This is why it’s shocking to see that people are becoming less engaged in politics and the voter turnout has steadily been declining over the last 20 years. This lack of participation by Canadians is creating a government that is influenced by fewer people, which is detrimental to the democratic system Canada is built on.
It is our civic right and duty to actively participate in governmental affairs. This recent election really highlighted the divide in opinion regarding the importance of governmental participation. “To many, our democratic system seems so broken that they have simply lost faith that their participation could really matter,” West writes in his essay entitled The Deep Democratic Tradition in America. Young people feel unimportant and irrelevant, which explains the lack in turnout from young voters ages 18-29. However, it wasn’t just young voters that didn’t turnout. Millions of eligible voters didn’t show up for the 2016 elections. A democracy without active participants is a democracy bound for
In “You’re 16, You’re Beautiful and You’re a Voter,” author Anya Kamenetz states her belief that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen. Kamenetz gives several premises to her argument.
Political inactivity on the part of young Americans stems from one fundamental source -- a general cynicism of the American political process. This disdain for politics is further perpetuated by a lack of voter education and a needlessly archaic voting procedure that creates barriers to voting where they need not exist. While many of these existing problems can be rectified with relative ease through the implementation of programs such as Internet voting and better voter education, such programs create only a partial solution.
Those that identify with duty-based citizenship norms are more likely to participate in traditional electoral style political behaviors such as paying income taxes, voting in elections, or serving in the armed forces- historically, this has been the most prevalent form of citizen involvement in politics. In recent years there has been a shift in focus among the younger generation from conventional duty based citizenship norms to a more involved, hands-on form of participation described as engaged citizenship. Those that identify with the engaged citizen model may still participate in electoral politics but are more likely to involve themselves through behaviors such as volunteer work, protesting unethical public entities and directly contacting public officials about issues that concern them. Duty based citizens differ from engaged citizens not only in the ways that they involve themselves politically, but also in the types of issues that they tend to focus on- for example, while duty-based citizens are more likely to focus on issues of the administrative, regulatory and fiscal variety, engaged citizens tend to focus on social, cultural and humanitarian issues. It could be argued that the duty-based model
Today in America, less than half of young voters between the ages of 18 and 24 vote (TheBestColleges.org). What most of these new adults fail to realize, is that their government depends on them to vote and elect new leaders to represent their country. Many of them make excuses to avoid voting, when really, they benefit most from voting.
In this paper, the reasons why young people do not vote will be explored and solutions as to how to get them to vote will be proposed. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), there are five main reasons why young people don’t vote. The graph presented uses census survey data from 2010 for citizens 18-24. The graph was broken down into two groups, those who are and are not in college. The first reason cited was being away from home or out of town, 23% of college students stated this and only 5% of people not in college stated this.
Tony Judt’s Ill Fares The Land criticizes postwar western society, ultimately blaming younger peoples’ senses of political apathy for the vast changes that have occurred in our world during the past few decades. He explains that much of the younger population unwillingly accepts the practice of apoliticism, which is the idea that since politics are so degraded in our time, we should give up on it (163). This point specifically resonated with me, because as I reflect on many conversations I have had regarding politics with fellow peers, many of them hold careless attitudes concerning the matter. “I don’t understand politics” and “How does my vote even count?” are only some apathetic excerpts that come to memory. In a democratic system like my
Teenagers want to create emphasizes on the importance of voting, and in a recent Politico article written by Peter Levine, argued that allowing people to vote at a young age would encourage them. “… 17 may be a better age… most [teenagers] are still living at home, where they can see parents voting… [and hear about it] in school.” Thousands of high-school students in Toronto area are ‘getting a chance to experience what it’s like to vote as part of a Canada-wide initiative to educate you people about their civic duty’ (CTV Toronto, A Lesson in Democracy). Many teenagers have opinions on how their lives are going to be affected, and lowering the voting
The newspaper industry presaged its decline after the introduction of the television and televised broadcasting in the 1950s and then after the emergence of the internet to the public in the 1990s and the 21st century with its myriad of media choices for people. Since then the readership of printed media has declined whilst digital numbers continue to climb. This is mostly due to television and the internet being able to offer immediate information to viewers and breaking news stories, in a more visually stimulating way with sound, moving images and video. Newspapers are confined to paper and ink and are not considered as ‘alive’ as these other mediums.
I believe, in this day and time; a sixteen year olds mind, knowledge, and the seriousness of voting is not what we need at this time.I believe it is hard enough for this generation, to add more on them. We as America, need to hold ourselves more accountable.
I want to declare the independence for the teenagers of America to be able to vote at a younger age. I believe the government should lower the age limit on voting to 14. Many teens under the age of 18 are interested in politics. Ever since I was 13, I was always interested in politics and many of my friends were too. Being able to vote at the age of 14 will allow the teen to choose their future. They are a piece of our population in America and should have a say in our future. I believe teens mature at 13 and will be able to choose a president with logic at the age of 14. Deciding a new president is important to everyone in America, even for teens and allowing them a say so makes sense for a true citizen.
The action of voting is such important role in how our country is going to be developed, especially effects on the economy, foreign relationships, society, etc. People are becoming much involved in politics, which is extraordinary because it means that the people are understanding how important their vote is and how it brings change to the issues that truly bother them. Many citizens don’t vote because they are either lazy or too busy, they either have jobs, classes, families, or other responsibilities take care of, but voting is a responsibility that should be attended. Voting could be the thing to prevent awful political leader’s to be put in office who are not focusing on what’s truly important, which is the people, which means that