In What Ways Does Public Opinion Influence the Formation of a Democratic Society?

Public opinion makes or breaks a political leader, policy or administration.  There seem to be three different types of people in America-those that know a great deal about politics, those that know hardly anything about politics and then the majority of people that are literate at a “basic level”.  Most Americans may not know who the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is but during certain times of the year we become very knowledgeable about certain topics, such as health care reform. 

It concerns me that politicians use the media to “prime” us to take up a certain viewpoint.  What can we believe anymore?  I know that there was little we could believe to begin with, but I always trusted that the media and reporters were there as sort of watchdogs for us.  Letting Americans know what is truly going on.  Now, I find out that the politicians only allow certain things to be said at certain times or that they bring up a subject so that it becomes important to the average person.  I don’t like this idea.  I don’t like the fact that because the politicians want to reform health care they are talking more about it and in turn making us look at it closer, which in turn makes the media cover it more.  It is a vicious circle and it concerns me that the things that I believe are important as far as what needs to be changed, may not be my idea after all. 

Another concern that I have is that the people that need to be the most politically informed are the least informed.  According to this week’s text, the most informed people tend to be older white men with an income over $50,000 whereas the least informed group are black women at or below the poverty level.  The poor need to know the most about policy because they are the ones that are most affected by the changes.  Why are we not doing anything to educate them on what they need to know?  How can they make informed decisions when they are not informed and why is this not at the top of someone’s agenda?

This course has opened my eyes to the fact that I do need to pay attention and that I do need to be involved.  I do need to have an opinion; I am part of the majority that can make changes happen.   I have discovered that small groups can make the largest difference.   It may not happen overnight but by making small changes, we will make big changes happen.  I was very disturbed by this week’s reading and it is making me reevaluate some of my strongly held beliefs.   I need to know that my beliefs are mine and not something that some organization wants me to believe.