Hollihan writes, “Political communication is therefore the means by which people express both their unity and their differences” (Hollihan, p.10). Political communication plays a large role in how we interact with one another, and often times can be the bases for what we chose to say or not say. It’s the language used that gives voice to our political messages and opinions. For me, political communication is something I usually try to avoid. I am a person who struggles when it comes to the topic of politics, and although I am a registered voter, I have a hard time making my own opinion regarding certain political issues. It wasn’t until the 2008 election that I began getting more interested in the topic, and forming my own opinions about the policies and presidential candidates. I felt like I was accomplishing something and playing a role in our society, my only regret is that I should have played that role sooner than at the age of twenty-one. Looking back on my experiences and education, I have a hard time remembering specific events/classes contributed my knowledge of politics. Members of my family have strong political opinions, but when it was the topic of conversation I felt not smart enough to participate. I came into this class, political communication, with the goal of not only improving my knowledge of politics, but also to give me more confidence to discuss politics with others, even if that means just asking questions to better my understanding. Now that the class has come to an end I feel like I accomplished just that. I have more confidence mostly because I have learned that I am not the only one that struggles when it comes to politics.
While I am happy that this class helped me improve my political communication skills, I still feel like there needs to be something done in order to obtain those skills at an earlier age. The interpersonal, public, and cultural levels concerning political communication are all open for improvement. One main area that needs improvement is the education of politics on both the public and interpersonal level. In my early years of schools politics was never the topic of conversation; instead the curriculum only covered history, math, science etc. While all these subjects are important, it seems as though one major subject was missing, politics. In order to improve political communication, it needs to be talked about with students at a young age. It would be very beneficial to have classes that only deal with politics, and how our government is run, and what Is being discussed and debated at that moment in time. These courses could also touch on different policies and why they play a large role in determining which presidential candidate the voter vote for. At a more interpersonal level, it would be beneficial to not only teach the basics of politics, but encourage the discussion of politics. Sitting in circles and having kids discuss why they believe want they believe or allow them the opportunity to ask question. This kind of group discussion in the early years of schooling will not only improve their communication skills, but also improve their ability to discuss politics. Many reason of why people don’t talk politics at a later age are due to lack of knowledge, fear of not being respected, thinking its boring or irrelevant, or even polarization. Having the education of politics and group discussions offered at a younger age level will avoid these preconceived notions of talking politics, and will result in an increase of interest and understanding of why political engagement is so important.
Another area of improvement is the media. Often times our mind can be skewed by what is said in the media, especially when it comes to politics. We fall into the trap of the media and throw our own opinions out the door. The media distracts us of what is important and as we have learned in class, becomes a reality show digging up scandals and controversy, the politicians embroiled in a daily narrative, and voters believing everything they hear. An approach to improving politics in the media is to avoid these minor of false details. During the time of an election the media can often get lost in the minor details, and can forget to discuss the important things. We hear the negatives about the presidential candidates regarding their personal lives or their past. Instead the media needs to focus on the now, and the truths. The individual attacks needs to be taken out and instead focus on the policy of each candidate, along with their plans to better our nation. As discussed above, education needs to be improved, being that media provides us with education it to need to improve. Many voters get their information from what is said in the media. If irrelevant facts having to do with the candidates are what are being discussed, then voters will begin basing their decision off of the wrong information that really has nothing to do with politics or why a candidate would make a good president. In order to have effective political communication people need to be aware of what is going on. In order to improve their awareness, the media needs eliminate the irrelevant aspects and draw voter’s attention to what is important.
With the improvement of education, knowledge, and media comes improvement of politicians and voting system. The politicians can’t always control what people are going to say about them, or what voters think, but they can influence our opinion. Politicians can improve political communication by being open to the public and focusing on the positives rather than negatives of their opponents. When I listen to a presidential candidate speak, I don’t want to hear him/her use their opponents name over and over again, but instead talk about what they are going to do, what their policies are, and encourage voters that in order to better our country, the need to be president. This will allow the voters to make their decision based on the important facts and will result in a better voter turnout. The voting system can improve by taking the presidential candidates off the ballet, and instead just have the policies. We vote on the policies we agree with and the presidential candidate with the most votes on their policies with become president. Improving what is on the ballets will require voters to become knowledgeable of the policies instead of just voting based on a popularity test.
Interpersonal, cultural, and public levels of politics all play large roles in how we use political communication. If we don’t increase the awareness, knowledge, and education on all these levels politics as a whole will become less and less important within our society. We need to keep improving political communication and teaching so that voter turnout stays high, and so that the topic of politics remains a priority to all.
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