Generations of the American people faithfully participate in government policy because it is an honor and privilege to engage in the fundamentals of our country’s political democracy. In The Good Citizen, Russel J. Dalton explores good citizenship and how it affects the country. Also, Dalton focuses on the millennials, and challenges those that do not care about the country. Dalton further analyzes how the norms have changed over the past decades. Dalton’s ideas on American citizenship are interesting and somewhat engaging, which I find myself mostly agreeing with.
Dalton breaks down good citizenship into four different categories, such as participation, autonomy, social order, …show more content…
In my opinion, participation is our biggest weakness to a healthy democracy. Participation numbers are down due to low voter turnout, and this looks bad because to other countries, we are the shining star of democracy. For instance, many Americans did not vote in the last election because they believed that neither candidate qualified for President of the United States. Also, some citizens have a nonchalant attitude towards long-standing incumbents, and this drives the voter turnout way down because most people feel like the incumbent will win no matter who the challenger might be. In our very own state, Senator Thad Cochran has been in office since 1978. In my opinion, Senator Cochran represents Mississippi well, and the positive of his long-standing position supports our state with his political power to help our state with various policies. There seems to be a misconception, though, about participation, as Dalton points out in The Good Citizen. In Dalton’s book, the importance of participation through various statistics and graphs …show more content…
Our nation is a forefront in helping those in need. In this idea, past generations have demonstrated to the millennials how important it is to help others. The people realize there are always people out there in need, and there is never really a perfect time to give, but somehow, we find the ability to give something to help. The economy has been in a down swing, but is slowing rising. Even if you're experiencing financial difficulties of your own, the reality is that when you donate your money, it makes a difference, not only to you, but to someone’s