Many citizens in America do not fit Bernard R. Berenson’s idea of an “ideal democratic citizen”. Very few people in American know what is actually going on with political affairs. Many Americans only pay attention to what has been covered on the news or on social media platforms, but there is a significantly larger number of political affairs that we need to be made aware of.
The population of the United states is so large and diverse that there is a wide variety of values and attitudes toward the government. In today’s society, many U.S. citizens do not possess much political knowledge, however, they still want to participate in voting and have a hand in shaping our government. That is all well and good, this is America after all, so the people who do not understand politics, get their political opinions from other people. As Gilens has stated, “Social networks allow for a division of labor in which more informed ‘opinion leaders’ provide policy …show more content…
I somewhat agree with him here, but, every citizen should care about political affairs involving their country. Even if it does not affect them directly, it could open new ideas or issues that could affect them in the future. Having a little knowledge in the political affairs surrounding your country is not a difficult task to accomplish, however, people should not drive themselves crazy trying to sort out and find a solution to every political issue.
Martin Gilens covered a lot of agreeable topics pertaining to how Americans are not “ideal democratic citizens” and how we, as American citizens, can solve that problem. I understand how everyone cannot be ideal but everyone could at least try to understand a little more about the political issues and affairs this country
The population of the United states is so large and diverse that there is a wide variety of values and attitudes toward the government. In today’s society, many U.S. citizens do not possess much political knowledge, however, they still want to participate in voting and have a hand in shaping our government. That is all well and good, this is America after all, so the people who do not understand politics, get their political opinions from other people. As Gilens has stated, “Social networks allow for a division of labor in which more informed ‘opinion leaders’ provide policy …show more content…
I somewhat agree with him here, but, every citizen should care about political affairs involving their country. Even if it does not affect them directly, it could open new ideas or issues that could affect them in the future. Having a little knowledge in the political affairs surrounding your country is not a difficult task to accomplish, however, people should not drive themselves crazy trying to sort out and find a solution to every political issue.
Martin Gilens covered a lot of agreeable topics pertaining to how Americans are not “ideal democratic citizens” and how we, as American citizens, can solve that problem. I understand how everyone cannot be ideal but everyone could at least try to understand a little more about the political issues and affairs this country