Comment on a Colleague's Blog

I decided to comment on the Blog post written by James Middle Brooks entitled, The Americans are More Likely to Vote if They hate the other party.  I'd like to take it a bit further and talk about why we as Americans do this.  I believe that the fact is that most of us are uninformed.  Our political views are very narrow and abstract, and are mostly based upon what the media presents to us which is usually only a portion of the truth.  This blind leading the blind approach only serves its purpose as a stumbling block to our political growth.

In an article titled Political Ignorance Revisited by Stephen Earl Bennett, he attempts to educate us on  why we are uninformed and what we can do to fix the problem.  Many of us as previously stated focus on mass media to inform us.  Consumers of print media are better informed, than those reliant on electronic media.  When you take the time to read something you get your cognitive senses going, you are better able to take the time to process the information, evaluate it and make a better judgement based upon the knowledge you gain from it.  It is easy to rely on electronic media it takes very little effort, and it too easy to take things at face value.

The author of this article suggests that to become better informed we have to first take an interest not just a passive approach.  According to Harvard Professor Thomas Patterson, "Lengthy election processes, and especially the "front loaded" party nomination procedures result in apathy, which prevents learning.  I find this very true.  When election time comes around the media profits off our ignorance.  If we see negative publicity on an individual candidate constantly over time our view of them just might change.  Carleton College Professor Steven Schier stated that the parties tendency to target only small segments of the electorate excludes others from taking part in electoral politics, which also contributes to indifference and ignorance.

So what can be done?  How do we solve this problem?  The author suggests participating more, use deliberative polling to inform citizens.  Teach the young people that apathy and ignorance have palpably negative consequences.  Last but not least, teach people that it is their duty to be informed.
Knowledge is power, we don't have to rely on another's judgement to base our own political view.  We should educate ourselves, become well informed political actors and strive to make a difference in our community.