How does individual people and groups of people influence the demoratic process

I agree with the other post in that we the people of America a very lucky to have a say in what happens here in our country, and who is running things. However I am torn at the same time to say how much individuals actually impact what goes on. I think at a state level we have much more influence on what happens than at a national level. Which is shown in the book on the first page of chapter 5 (pg.101), when stating that George Bush won the presidential election by electoral votes, but lost the popular vote (individual peoples votes). So even though our individual votes decide who represents our state, and what party our state affiliates with, this does not always guarantee that the people we elect to represent out state will vote the way that the majority of the state wants. It can depend on many things, such as the final candidates that are chosen after the primary, where these candidates lie regarding certain issues, and money. I also think that money is a greater influence than anything in our country and who, where and how it is being spent. I do however think that the media has a great influence on how individuals think regarding politics, which then directly effects how politics are run. Campaigns that reach more people and in positive way are more likely to have results in followers.

Week 5- public influence on democratic society

From what I read in the book it seems to me that public opinion doesn’t influence democratic society too much. I almost seems to me that politics, lobbying and governmental media influence public opinion more that public opinion influences government. The books states that most people get their political and governmental influence and knowledge passed along to them from parents and families members, and these beliefs do not usually change except for in big social movements. When there is big social movements is when most people have changes in opinions regarding government and politics, which through our history has only happened a handful of times. It also states that “public opinion is made by politicians, activist, and institutions who seek to shape it by providing information, by appealing to emotions, and by contradicting opposing views” (pg. 93). This to me seems like politicians influence public opinion, not the other way around. The book continues to say “ politicians us polls and focus groups to move their positions closer to the publics but just the opposite: to find the most effective means to move public opinion closer to their own desired policies” (pg93).

How does government and the private sector intersect?

I think that even though for the most part our country has tried to set things up so that government and the private sector do not intercept, they do, and always will. I think this is a good thing for the most part. With out government regulations companies would be able to do pretty much anything they wanted and treat their employees however they want. Due to the government regulations we have things like minimum wage requirement, age requirement so that kids are exploited, and worker rights. The government also regulated the taxes that private companies are required to pay, and as we saw in the last election, this is a very big deal to many company owners. The government also intersects with the private sector when they decide to do bail outs for large companies. I know that the bail outs have been a very controversial over the past couple of years, but I for one thing that it was a good thing. Many companies, and peoples jobs were saved in their decision to bail these large companies out. I think that without government regulations the private companies would have to much control and that eventually our economy would seriously suffer from it.

Above was my original posting for the class discussion.

While looking into the goverment and private sectors one of the things that I find a lot of information on was that the government workers make a lot more money than people in the private sector working in the same profession. According to USA Today " The data flip the conventional wisdom on its head," says Cato Institute budget analyst Chris Edwards, a critic of federal pay policy. "Federal workers make substantially more than private workers, not less, in addition to having a large advantage in benefits."


There is also a chart in this article showing the different in the government saleries and the private sector saleries. CHART: Federal salaries compared to private-sector

References:
Federal Pay Ahead of Private Idustry. Cauchon, Peter. USA Today. 3/8/2010.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm#chart


This cartoon also reminded me of the artice I read on USA Today this is attached.

Week 3- Power in governemrnt, economy and politics

In this chapter there was a lot about power and how it works and controls things in our country. However my take on power is that money equals power. I think that money influence power in the economy, government and politics. I think that money controls politics and how they run (campaign, advertise, etc.) which hand in hand effects the governement. The party (politics) that has the majority usually has the power and has a better handle on how/what things happen in sennate. All and all I think that money equal power.

 

The above was my orginal posting for the class discussion.

 

This chapter, and just the word ‘power’ and associating it with government has got me thinking beyond our own government, especially with all the news on Egypt and there current situation. As much as I think that our government and politics are influenced by money and who as it and how they want to use it, I am also thankful that we have a constitution that allows us to somewhat control how the government is run in a ‘peaceful’ manor. Lately we have seen the mass protest that are taking place in Egypt due to who has the power in their country. Unfortunately for them, there constitution is set up in a way that is legally binding them to stay in this situation, therefore making the angry protest to continue. According an article on msnbc.com “the next presidential election would be held under the same unfair conditions as in previous years. They want to first have a new parliament to the constitution to pave the way for presidential vote that is democratic”. Therefore, until their constitution is changed they have no way to change their current situation as the president had decided not to run again, he will not step down for the rest of his term, and according to their constitution there is nothing that can legally change it. So as much as I might think is wrong with our government, how it is run, and what the influence really are, I am thankful to live where I do, and have the strong constitution that was written to actually protect us.

An image of the protest in Egypt

References

Nakhoul, Samia. Opposition divided ahead of talks with Egypt's VP. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ 2/5/2011

Democracy

I think that the opportunities of a democracy definitely out weigh the challenges, but that is not to say that democracy is without them.

The opportunities that I see is that we are free. We are free to feel, say speak, and elect how we chose without prosecution from the government. We have the ability to chose who we want to run our city, state and country for the next 2, 4 or even 8 years. We also have the ability to impeach that elected person if the majority of the people find that this person is not doing the best for our country or acting unlawfully. This is a great power that most people all over the world do not have. We also have the ability to stay informed (for the most part). We have access to what our government is doing, and also what most of the world outside of us is doing. Many people around the world do not have this right. In many countries tv, internet, book, and religion is run and censored by their government.

Of course there are also challenges to a democracy, and in my opinion most of these challenges are fueled by money, just as most things are. There is a big division in parties, and though not always true, but most of the time the party division is also linked hand and hand with how much money you make and what ‘class’ you fall into. Not only are the parties divided, but candidates of both parties are influenced to do or support certain things depending on where they get their funding from and how the person or organization with the moneys agenda is. We also have a very big influence by corporations here in the US, which has nothing to do or for the general public. Money can even influence whose voted are being counted. It has been a stigma that people of with less money do not vote, but even if they do vote, how do we know that the vote is even counted. I was unaware of this until reading the chapter, but according to pg. 3 of our text "A congressional study found that minority and poor voters were three times more likely to have their votes voided in the 2000 presidential election than ballots cast by affluent white." According to the book this is because the districts where poor/minority voters vote there is budget issues and they cannot afford the newer more accurate voting equipment. This goes back to the Titanic metaphor also used in our text, more money equals more opportunity. And as much as I love that we have the right to vote, I think that the downfall of this is that we as a society in general are very uniformed when it comes to making a decision on what is actually best for us. I am also guilty of this. But often times I think we go with what our friends/families tell us, or see in the papers & TV, without doing our own research. 

Nothing is perfect, and I would rather be here in the land of the free with a flawed democracy than anywhere else, especially a counrty that is not a democracy.

First Time Blogger

I am new to blogging. This is my first time ever, and I must admit I am still very confused by it all, so please bare with me on this. I am blogging solely for the purpose of this class (psc 1010). I am a psychology major with a social work minor with an emphasis on aging and aging services, which has quickly become my passion. Which leads me to why I am taking this class. I have recently applied to Master program for social work here at Metro, and this class is a requirement for the masters program. I am not a political person at all and do not follow it except for what I see on the news, which I’m sure you all know is very minimal. I am hoping that this class will help me understand how politics and our government works, as I am often confused by governmental/political lingo.