In preparation for another US Presidential election, the political sphere has ramped up and is just about in full swing. Candidates are running from one debate to the next while cramming local rallies in between, media sources are looking for every dramatic snippet, angle, and piece of trash talk they can publicize, and citizens are figuring out where to draw their lines in the sand. Speaking from my own personal experience, the number of years you have been voting affords you little to no advantage of expertise in this realm and each new election cycle brings with it a fresh controversy to keep up with.
Hillary Clinton wants us all to trust that she's got it under control and I am fairly certain that Donald Trump wants to kick everyone except rich, white men out of the country and turn the empty space into golf courses or something. There are other men vying for a spot who appear to spend their days calling each other names and denying that climate change is real but because of channel capacity limitations I'm not even certain who they are or how many are left. However, I am going to focus on my personal favorite of the Presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders.
Bernie is recruiting people for a revolution and proposing big change but people in the US are not really accustomed to major change in the political system. Asking people to commit time, energy, and attention towards working together to demand an upheaval is not a small request. Some knowledge and clarity about what the change is for and what is at stake is desired by most before they will jump on board and showing a willingness to take action. If you were lucky enough to attend Bernie's rally at EMU Monday, you likely received some amazing feedback for your participation in the form of positive energy and an amazing sense of camaraderie; however, people are still very unclear as to how advantageous their support will be in the long run so, whether Sander's can effectively lead durable behavior change and retain all of these votes in the end remains to be seen.
The locus of control of the American people, in regard to having a say in the workings of the political system, is extremely low. There seems to be a very defeatist attitude about the role of money and corporations in American politics but at the same time, a fair amount of hesitation about taking a chance on Bernie's ability to follow through with his plans to change that. Bernie's message might inspire large groups of people but is it enough to overcome the belief that citizens are not powerful enough to have a say? Can his leadership and determination lead to meaningful action on the part of the American people? What could he possibly do better to get those planning to vote for another candidate to change their mind and vote for him instead?
Angey, thank you for writing such a relevant and interesting blog. You mention in your blog that the locus of control of the American people is extremely low regarding the political system. I would like to focus and elaborate on this point.
ReplyDeleteA couple months ago I stumbled upon an article, Testing, Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens that was published in the American Political Science Association – Perspectives on Politics journal article by Martine Gilens and Benjamin Page. The article brings to light our current political system and shows empirical evidence that “economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence” (Gilens & Page). The article further elaborates how theses figures were derived, but overall, it demonstrates that our political system supports only the views of the elites and not the general public.
After reading this article, I was deeply concerned and felt a sense of hopelessness. How can I make an impact and create change if my vote doesn’t matter in our political system? In a sense, my locus of control was significantly weakened by this article.
Although this is a mass generalization, I assume the majority of American’s feel the same way as myself, through their own personal interactions with our political system. This is where Bernie Sanders’s political campaign can step in and regain hope for Americans. Without the push for a political system that actually represents the people, the majority of Americans might continue to have a weak locus of control and not demand a change in our political system.
Citations:
Gilens, M., & Page, B. I. (2014). Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens. Perspect. Polit. Perspectives on Politics, 12(03), 564-581.
Thanks Katelyn! Yikes, that is sad. :( I mean, I basically felt/knew that was the situation already but, it's even worse to see it proven in black and white. I've been saying how much I firmly believe that the people can create change by working together. I sure hope the situation is not as dire as Gilens & Page say it is. Maybe that's all that is needed to increase Bernie supporters and start his revolution? lol A way to change the LOC of the American people?
DeleteI just came across this on my feed and felt like it had some relevance.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/opinion/the-roosevelt-approach.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0
I read the NY Times article you posted as well as your own blog post and they collectively describe a lot of my fears going into this election. Your parting comments regarding hope and change really brought forth to mind Obama's campaign in 2008. I was a new voter then and extremely excited to get out there and do my civic duty, to effect change. What I forgot about was all the extra steps that are required to get things done. As bill after bill and policy after policy got shot down I felt my hope wane and, you're completely right, my locus of control was stripped from me and I no longer felt like an agent of change. Maybe that explains why Bernie is so popular now, his grassroots campaign gives back a sense of control. My concern then, is just like that NY Times article predicts.. will Bernie's lofty goals be able to hold up in the face of pragmatism?
ReplyDelete