terms of interest	secularization	mobilization
Abolitionist	Civil Rights Movement	participation
Suffrage	American Indian Movement (AIM)	Occupy Movement
Suffragettes	"Gray Panthers"	civil disobedience

Ch. 8

Week 8 -  Political participation

Key concepts from the Text:
- There are many ways to participate in politics. Many people do not participate. - Voting, next to discussing politics, is the lowest level of political participation. - When we ask who votes: Age, Income and Education are the most important variables. - When we ask how (or why) voters vote the way they do, gender, religion, and many other factors are involved.

Only about half the people vote.

My personal favorite saying: "See that?... don't be like that."

So many time half or more than half the people who could vote, simply do not. The year I was born (1960) a classic study was being done and it's results have not really changed in my lifetime.

SEE IT HERE: http://wikisum.com/w/Verba_and_Nie:_Participation_in_America

Here's what they found - the rough percentages haven't changed in 50 years.

Somewhere around 25% to 45% of the people who could vote just plain do not vote. The number one reason reported for not voting is that they feel their vote does not count. And they are right, a non-cast vote cannot be counted...

About 25% to 45% - in any election - and remember, general elections get higher turn out and Presidential (every four years) gets the highest turn out. Anyway - these people have voted once in their life and didn't get much out of it ... so they probably will NEVER vote again.

About 20% - and this percentage has not changed significantly in fifty years - gives money to some political cause - Verba and Nye Called them "communalists." I call them joiners - because they join some group - maybe get their magazine, wear their t-shirt but most importantly, give them money. These guys are likely to vote.

About 15% are called campaigners because they donate more than money - they give their time to some cause. These people also are likely to vote.

Only about 10% are truly politically active. These are the few who are the loudest and - yes - they are the most likely to vote. They give money and time to a political cause - or many causes - and they vote in nearly every election (California seems to have elections every year!)

There's another 5% or so - called contactors - who like to write letters but are not likely to vote.

So voting is the least you can do.

If you don't vote but still talk about politics, you really are not participating in politics, you are only increasing the fog of bs around so much of politics.

You know people who do that - don't be like that!

Social Movements

Social movements have no doubt changed American politics throughout the course of American history. They start OUTSIDE normal or regular politics and work their way into the public discussion. Clearly, the Abolitionists (who fought to abolish slavery) and the Suffragettes (those who sought the vote for women) are the two most important and dramatic examples of this.

The proliferation of so many "movements" may very well weaken the ability of any group to "cut through the clutter" of modern media.

Also, the fact that so many corporation now use some kind of viral or "guerrilla" tactics that it is hard to find a real "grassroots" (authentic, home grown) political cause or group. One senator called this kind of fake represe4ntation, where a corporation appears to be "the little guy" - he called it "astro turf politics."

And of course, you know NIMBY:

It simply stands for "Not In My Back Yard." As in - sure I want to help the homeless by not with a home for them next to mine. Of course I want to help the poor but not in my back yard! NIMBY permeates US politics at all levels in all issues.

Face it - humans can be pretty selfish and exclusionary. We have groups who are over which has been more victimized throughout their history that other nations, groups or regions. We love to divide ourselves into groups so we feel part of something when the truth is we are all part of the greatest experiment in the history of our planet.

Also, about nine thousand of our ancestors left Africa about 100,000 years ago and we are, literarily, in the same family. Less than 9000 mitochondria DNA original lines exist among all 6.5 billion of us on this planet. That's less genetic diversity than most of the plants and animals on the endangered species list. So in that lame nineties rap song, when they say we are all in the same gang - they are more than a little correct.

The American Indian Movement

Social movements are often more important in the changes they bring to the participants than to the great polity.

The American Indian Movement, which coalesced around the same civil rights and equality of treatment that created the civil rights movement had a deeper and far more profound impact on Native Americans around the country than on the politics of the country as a whole.

If it were not for gambling and the money involved in that, Native Americans would still be ignored by the mainstream press and politicians not to mention the media and the public.

It was not AIM that changed things externally for many Indians around the country. But AIM solidified a three century effort to having a larger group identity, a national Indian identity" if you will, and that allowed some to successfully pursue gaming as a policy to increase the wealth and power of the tribe(s).

The so called Gray Panthers (older people who aggressively pursue protests etc to demonstrate the abuse and neglect of older people) are a great example of a small group of people who claim to be "left out" of the system, although older people, with AARP and other groups, may be arguably the most over represented group (after corporations)..

In many polls when asked which group people thought was the most disadvantaged, the vast majority of the people who identified themselves with some group, named that group as being the most disadvantaged. You gotta love how narrow minded most people can be.

The Occupy movement

I really am not sure if this leaderless almost formless group will end up having made a difference or not. But before you go crazy that you (and me) are the 99 per cent - 'cuz we are. The 1% is over three million Americans. Are they all the same? Can they all agree politically among themselves?. I bet not.

The TEA Party is another, much better organized effort than the Occupy movement.

I say occupy (and boycott) the Kardashians! That's my political statement. No more stupid reality people pretending they matter!

 

some things to think about:

1. Today many politicians hire private investigators to check out their opponents' credit reports, medical records, high school and college records, etc. Does this sort of scrutiny drive off good potential candidates? What can be done about this or is the complete loss of privacy simply the price of public office? 2. Can democracy be sustained when so few people are involved in the political process? Voter turnouts at local elections sometimes run less than ten per cent, and yet local governments are the ones that affect people closely on a daily basis. Why don't more people vote? What can or should be done, if anything? 3. How influential are religious groups in American politics? Has this changed over time? How important should religion be in politics? 4. Which groups voted for the Democrats and which voted for the Republicans in 2008. Was that a change from the past? Which groups will probably vote for the same party as the past? What does this say about democracy in America?