Essay On Political Disengagement

Political Disengagement: ‘Lazy’ Millenials Are Not to Blame I parked my car in my high school parking lot and took my place in line. It was November 4rd, my first ever Election Day. I waited in line to cast my ballot for our local and state officials. Wonder and excitement filled my mind. I walked through the double doors and into the gym that had been transformed into a series of voting booth stations. After I entered the curtain-enclosed booth and cast my vote, I was surprised by how fast and simple the process was. Once I completed voting, I exited the building proudly donning an “I Voted!” sticker on my shirt for the world to see. I am not a stereotypical millennial. I am politically active. I vote. Today, in an era where the privilege to vote has never reached a wider demographic of people, American’s have a tendency to take their democracy for granted. Voting is a vital aspect of democracy, but a relatively steady decline in voter turn out signifies an unfortunate disengagement of political activism. Political inactivity, in young adults, stems from a disconnection with the current political system and a cynical opinion that his or her individual vote does affect the results of an …show more content…
America’s current winner-take-all electoral system discourages voter participation through strategic gerrymandering. In President Obama’s State of the Union speech, he called on lawmakers saying, “change the system to reflect our better selves for a better politics…. We have to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters” (Ingraham). The process of drawing district boundaries is regulated by state legislatures. Gerrymandering largely occurs when one party is in control of the districting process, drawing boundaries to reflect a positive numerical advantage against opponents