Behavior Today: Involved In Politics?

Most people do not keep up on local, state or national politics, and make voting decisions based on very little information. Some of this information is strictly the way a candidate looks — if the candidate’s photo or image has been provided in the campaign — or whether they’re a man or a woman. Many people vote because of what they perceive the candidate to be — the candidate’s ethnicity, career history or last name spelling may all be the sole reason someone votes for them, or a factor in the decision. People with difficult to spell last names may not get votes for the simple reason that voters can’t pronounce their names — and don’t have enough information or education about the process or the candidates to choose in any other way.

And then there’s party affiliation which is what many people use to vote if they don’t know about the ballot, the referendum or the candidate.

Some people actually read the referendum or the information provided on the ballot, and sadly, the writing of these referendums and voter information is often poorly written, poorly informed and poorly translated from legal-ese. This makes voting a bit like playing russian roulette.

Like many government organized projects, voting is often not supervised or organized by top notch people, or when it is, it’s bogged down by red tape that allows the democratic process, but makes change and positive amendments slow.

Still, voting for community, state and federal leaders is the only game of it’s kind in town, and voting is still a much better option, even with it’s foibles, than not voting.

Reasons to Get Involved

1. Deep reasons: The political process was intended to represent all the people. Be a part of your country’s history and future by taking your responsibility in the political process and the meaning of our country seriously. Inform yourself and participate in the political process.

2. Shallow reasons: If you’re single, you’ll meet great men who are politically involved. Politics has traditionally been the arena of men, men and men. Why not venture into that land of men if you’re looking?

3. Don’t work for politics, make politics work for you: If you see the political process as a burden and something you have to work to inform yourself at the same way you would gird yourself up to take castor oil, you’re not going to enjoy it or stay with it. But…if you see politics as an arena that affects something important in your life — whether it’s womens’ rights, health care, education, crime or something on a local level like a building project around the corner from you or a traffic light that is faulty — it will be much easier for you to get involved because the reason you’re getting involved is personal, not academic.