New Political Era
The interesting thing about American’s is that we are all proud to be Americans, but what makes America such a good country to be a part of. Is it our freedoms, our economy, or just simply the way we can live our everyday lives anyway we wish. The youth in the 50’s and 60’s were involved much more they paved for our generation by protesting and letting our government know what they expected of them. Today’s youth are less involved and don’t understand why it is so important to be involved in our democratic process, which is why I will explore why our generation is so cynical about our electoral process and why it is important to get our generation educated about the officials we vote for, and explain how it is affecting our everyday lives by not voting.
Young Americans today aren’t involved in our democracy for many reasons. The new generation of voters simply don’t trust our government which in reality that alone should make them want to be more involved. Mark Strama author of, Overcoming Cynicism: Youth Participation and Electoral Politics, says; 9 out of 10 candidates who spend the most money wins an election. Most of that money comes from special interest groups so most Americans feel they aren’t the ones truly being represented. During a candidate’s run for office they rarely target the young voters instead they target the older generations because they are the ones that go to the poles and vote. Strama says, “Obviously, it’s a catch-22: politicians ignore young people because they don’t vote, and young people don’t vote because politicians ignore them” (p.73).
Strama, Mark. "Overcoming Cynicism: Youth Participation and Electoral Politics." National Civic Review 87.1 (1998): 71. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Mar. 2011.
