Is the Democratic Process Working as It Should?
Our country has been running under the constitution since its conception in 1789 and little change has been made to it regarding the democratic process. Some may argue that the US has become more democratic, others may claim the opposite. In theory, a perfect democracy consists of completely involved citizens in the government in order to make decisions for themselves, which is, of course, unrealistic for the U.S. due to its enormous population. In an ideal democracy, however, citizen participation is still an essential part of the process. Citizens are expected to actively educate themselves on current political issues and vote during elections to fully exercise the democratic system. For the …show more content…
From attending the school board meeting at the S.M.A.R.T. Center, it was evident that the representatives were used to the process by their organization. The speakers had their presentation information printed and stacked in the back of the room ready to go, and the discussions were swift, yet easy to understand. The meeting was open to anyone who planned to attend and also had a convenient meeting time of 7 P.M. for citizens who planned to attend the meeting after work or dinner. Furthermore, the school board also had an established system in which attendees were able to contribute if they had made arrangements beforehand. Although this is most likely to maintain efficiency, it hinders the citizen’s abilities to participate and communicate their beliefs. Moreover, the turnout to the meeting was unfortunately incredibly low, with over half of the audience being the students that were observing the meeting for this project, the other attendees being a couple of teachers who left shortly after they had a chance to speak. The low turnout resulted in a lack of participation from the audience which was, of course, due to the aforementioned system since the whole process may be demotivating and tedious for busy citizens. Along with the effective organization and management of the board meeting, there is an exclusion of any potential and
Our country has been running under the constitution since its conception in 1789 and little change has been made to it regarding the democratic process. Some may argue that the US has become more democratic, others may claim the opposite. In theory, a perfect democracy consists of completely involved citizens in the government in order to make decisions for themselves, which is, of course, unrealistic for the U.S. due to its enormous population. In an ideal democracy, however, citizen participation is still an essential part of the process. Citizens are expected to actively educate themselves on current political issues and vote during elections to fully exercise the democratic system. For the …show more content…
From attending the school board meeting at the S.M.A.R.T. Center, it was evident that the representatives were used to the process by their organization. The speakers had their presentation information printed and stacked in the back of the room ready to go, and the discussions were swift, yet easy to understand. The meeting was open to anyone who planned to attend and also had a convenient meeting time of 7 P.M. for citizens who planned to attend the meeting after work or dinner. Furthermore, the school board also had an established system in which attendees were able to contribute if they had made arrangements beforehand. Although this is most likely to maintain efficiency, it hinders the citizen’s abilities to participate and communicate their beliefs. Moreover, the turnout to the meeting was unfortunately incredibly low, with over half of the audience being the students that were observing the meeting for this project, the other attendees being a couple of teachers who left shortly after they had a chance to speak. The low turnout resulted in a lack of participation from the audience which was, of course, due to the aforementioned system since the whole process may be demotivating and tedious for busy citizens. Along with the effective organization and management of the board meeting, there is an exclusion of any potential and