How Important Is Your Vote?
A single vote can make all the difference in an election. Children should be taught the importance of the vote from their earliest introduction to education. Yet, many eligible voters don’t vote. This is especially true in local municipal elections where voter turnout is often mediocre at best. Votes reflect the will of the people. Without the right to vote, the voice of the people can be completely silenced. This is why voting is so important.
Implementing Governmental Changes Through Voting
When voters choose their candidates, they do so based upon what they believe the candidate will offer them or their states. Yet, the pool of candidates often stray from this once they become part of political bureaucracy. In order to properly implement change, it takes voter majority on issues. What voters may miss is that their voter influence begins in their local voting districts and municipalities. This creates the ripple effect that ascends higher and higher up political ladders to the floor of Congress. It is thus conceivable that an issue in a small voting district can become a major national issue. As an example, in the early history of the United States, statehood may have begun in a small local district and eventually grew to a national issue. The right of women to vote is another example of a ripple effect. Issues can divide the electorate based on party lines or on ideology. Grass roots voter groups are often the catalysts for changes in government. This is certainly true in the case of special interest groups who support environmental issues. If not for these groups, the use of the insecticide DDT, for example, might never have been banned.
Peaceful Demonstrations Effect Government Change
Demonstrations and protests have been a part of many attempts to effect government change. Most individuals recall the Civil Rights demonstrations across the USA in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s. As a result of these demonstrations, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act and Affirmative Action Act were passed to regulate bias in the workplace. The ripple effect from this was the passage of legislation that also prevented bias based on gender, age and religion. From single acts of peaceful demonstration, much change in government can be accomplished. Peaceful demonstrations usually are organized by an interested core group with a specific purpose or agenda in mind. The number of peaceful demonstrations are a visible sign of movements for the people. Perhaps, this is a return to the origins of earlier history when people determined the course of human events and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as suggested in the preamble to the US Constitution.
Movement for the People – The Advent of New Changes
Whenever people of like minds gather into a movement, much is accomplished. The power of unity within a movement emanates from the ability to remain consistent in purpose. Once fragmentation erupts, the initiatives of the movement weaken considerably. At present, there is a movement for the people under way. This is likely the advent of new changes to adjust the problems people in the movement believe have not met with their expectations or the operatives of the Constitution upon which their government is based. These movements become a refreshing discourse on the power of the people and their vote. Movements for the people can introduce a new era of thoughts, ideas and direction for the government.
Peaceful Demonstrations and Powerful Voting
In the USA, the most powerful voting bloc are dedicated, patriotic voters. Senior citizens comprise this voting bloc in larger numbers than younger voters. Most senior citizens know how important a single vote can be and they vote in nearly all local, county, state and federal elections. Many seniors citizens also comprise large numbers of peaceful demonstrators in movements for the people. It’s an amazing sight to see peaceful demonstrations to protest various governmental issues. Tens of thousands of people rally together in strategic locations to voice their protest when they believe their government is not working for the greater good of their country. This proves that coupled with a strong voting bloc, peaceful demonstrations are powerful voices of the people.