When I first came into my Political Communication class (SPCM 420) I was not comfortable with the political sphere what so ever. I did not feel comfortable talking about my views, asking people their stance on political issues, challenging people and their frame of reference, or even participating in political discussion at all. I would simply remove myself from the situation. After talking about several different aspects of politics and how the political sphere has evolved and transpired over the history of our country, I have gained some background information helping me to feel more connected and involved with the political sphere. I was not educated about the political system and therefore did not care or feel like I mattered in politics. I realized that I was not interested because I was not educated on the basics. I think education, knowledge and understanding open up a lot of doors for people to gain interest and concern in a specific matter. Without education there is ignorance and through ignorance we create tension. Education is something that is needed in the curriculum of junior high and high school level classes in order to have more engaged citizens. Educating the youth for their future involvement with the political sphere and connecting them to politics may spark an interest in being involved but solely prepare them to be an adult in our country. If education about politics, political rhetoric and critical thinking is given to the youth of America before they become adults in the real world, we could have higher expectations for engaged citizens, thus creating higher expectations for our politicians for the future of our country.
For politics, there is no structured class or time where young American citizens get a clear description of the layout of the political system. There is no time where we learn why things are the way they are and how they came to be and how to critically analyze politics. When it comes to political rhetoric and religion (two things that highly influence the decisions that Americans make) without the skills to critical analyze them, citizens can fall down the path of poor decision-making. Things they did not even realize were influencing their perspective could sway them one-way or the other unconsciously. Creating savvy political consumers, the political sphere can be more engaging and possibly even more genuine. Americans can vote at age 18 but do we know what is truly going on in the world and the political sphere for that matter at that age?? I did not. I did not until this course taken at Colorado State University.
Falling for catchy tunes or following a candidate because your favorite celebrity endorses them is not a reason to vote for a Presidential candidate or any political figure. Granted, we are a democracy and voting is our individual right but without proper knowledge of what you are voting for, we can potentially damage the freedom that this country stands for. We need to be savvy, conscious, aware, engaged, concerned citizens when it comes to politics. I am not saying everyone needs to love everything about the political sphere and watch the news all day and research politics 24/7 but I do think a little education on the history of politics, political satire, political advertising and rhetoric are necessary things for a citizens to fully engage. Without this knowledge the basis of our understanding could be skewed and lead to higher misunderstandings and poor judgment.
Knowledge of politics will entice people to continue involvement in the political sphere. I know that personally, after having a better understanding of even what is going on in the political sphere, I want to be more active and engaged even if it is just a discussion or a challenge of someone’s personal view. I want to be a part and give my two cents in challenging the opinions of others with attempt to create a deeper understanding within myself for what I truly believe in and how I truly feel. Education is key. If we expect 18 year olds to be able to vote, they should expect to be educated on how to analyze political issues and how to involve themselves comfortably in the political sphere. Education can help raise the standards for both engaged American citizens and the politicians of America.
With education starting at a younger age and having it set in the curriculum so all youth are relatively on the same page, politicians and media will not be able to trick us, if you will, into falling for things that may or may not be relevant to the campaign. Savvy Americans will not fall for the attack ads, or the irrelevant rumors (Obama and Muslim rumors) or the criticism on inappropriate items (Sarah Palin’s wardrobe). We would be held responsible for recognizing that things should not influence how we feel about political entities. However, they can influence how engaged citizens feel about a particular person or candidate as long as they are aware of that influence and are comfortable with that. Being a democracy we all have to work together and if people are not making educated decisions and just making them because they can, we have potential to not remain a democracy forever. We need to be cautious citizens, aware of what the government is doing so we can keep the history of our country.
Also with education, citizens can become savvy media consumers. Media plays a big role at times when it comes to politics. It is how we receive our political information for the most part. It is rare that Americans get to hear a speech first hand or be around when the Democratic or Republican convention takes place. We depend on media to deliver our political news. If we do not understand media biases or seek out objective news resources, we can potentially become puppets to the media and essentially lose our right to freedom.
If we have more educated voters and engaged citizens, higher expectations and responsibility will be placed on every party in the political sphere. Voters will be held to higher standards in that they are expected to be aware of political issues and concerned with the future of our country where they actively participate themselves. With educated voters we will set higher expectations for political candidates to be more genuine and qualified for the position of running our Country/State/City and what have you. They will not be able to “play” us and will have to find ways to win our vote by focusing on political issues that will help better our society. They will not be distracted with making the other party look bad or creating an attacking or defensive advertisement. They will focus on what they can truly do to achieve what the voters want from them as a leader. With more educated voters, Media will have to focus on more issue based news coverage as well. Educated, aware and concerned voters will not be interested when the president goes to the beach and how nice he looked taking a jog with his wife. We will want issue-based news coverage. What the political candidates are doing to help the greater good. What new policies are the candidates thinking about or wanting to implement in the future and what those policies will do for our economy. We will not want to be distracted with irrelevant news because we will be provided with news that will help us make educated decisions about our political candidates. We will seek out to savvy political consumers.
Education in our youth can prospectively change the future of America. Citizens might possibly be more engaged in the political sphere, which has the capability to change how the media displays politics and how political candidates approach the role of leadership in America. Education can actually make a change. It can make a change for the better and help Americans in being more patriotic while having faith in the government. Education is key to success.
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