To what extent should leaders rely on polling results to guide them in voting on legislation? Partially it will depend on how well the pollster informs the public on the Leader’s issues. It is not important to correct the prevailing opinion on popular questions as much as correcting the inaccuracies of polling results. Eighty-one percent say when making "an important decision" government leaders "should pay attention to public opinion polls because this will help them get a sense of the public's views." Only 18 percent of the public said "leaders should not pay attention to public opinion polls because this will distract them from deciding what they think is right."
California State and Local Government Direct democracy is a way for average people like you and I to take care of public issues rather than leaving it up to representatives. The main objection to direct democracy is that the general public is a poor position to judge the appropriate actions of government. The public as a whole is not as interested or informed as their elected representatives. Much of the public only has an apparent understanding of most political issues and is likely to be swayed one way or another. Direct Democracy has been practiced in Switzerland, United States and in the New England Town Meetings.
If the majority of people vote against same sex marriage, then it shows that is not an important issue and future votes may not be called for due to the large number of people against it. Changing marriage laws in states is a tedious process, because if done to quickly, it can have such negative
Some issues put forward by the government may be too complicated for the people to understand, which means they may have difficulty deciding on their opinion due to lack of knowledge. Referendums may encourage giving power to the people, however, making important decisions should probably be left for the elected MP’s to conclude, simply for the fact that they are experts. Another advantage of using referendums is that they stop the government from making decisions which aren’t suited, or are unpopular with the public when an issue raised has had a large population vote ‘no’. If the government change a referendum’s verdict, then the public are less likely to conform to it which means the government have no choice in which to carry out their final decision. The second disadvantage of holding more referendums is that
Gridlock occurs when the branches of government scrutinise each other’s action to such a point where neither can pass any form of legislation, and the government therefore becomes less able to perform its duties, therefore leading to a less effective government. For example during Obamas presidency he had struggled with the majority of republican opposition in congress, and therefore had trouble to pass any major legislation such as immigration reform, jobs bill, gun control initiatives and etc. On the other hand, others may argue that the government is not ineffective because of the constitution as the checks and balances system do in fact work, as a way to prevent an overly centralised and powerful form of government, which may not stay accountable to the people as much as it does to large corporations who fund them for re-elections and etc.
If one third of the population isn’t voting it cant be a true democracy since the needs of one third of our population aren’t getting met and their voices are unheard. Our own US government is “neither of, nor for, nor by, the people”. 2) Kozol concludes his essay by asking whether we as a nation have “the character and courage to address” illiteracy. He does not, however, offer any concrete suggestions for doing so. Can you offer any suggestions?
Constitutional Amendments When the government was being established, the Framers did not want to make a government that could be easily influenced by the people. To make sure of this, they made the formal amendment process very slow and extensive. There are two stages to an amendment process: proposal and ratification, and two ways to accomplish each stage. Even though there are two ways for each stage, one of the ways is rarely used. According to the textbook, the usual method of proposal is by two thirds vote in both houses of Congress and the usual method of ratification is by legislatures in three-fourth of states.
· Often the views of outsider pressure groups strongly oppose the views of government, and therefore are unlikely to be consulted. What are the differences between Pressure Groups and Political parties? Pressure Groups .Do not seek power .Have views on only one or two issues .Do not put candidates up for election .Seek to represent the views of only a part of society Political parties .Seek power .Have views on the whole range of government responsibilities .Put as many candidates up for election as possible .Seek to represent the views of the whole of society REMEMBER there is not a clear cut line between PGs & PPs What methods do Pressure groups use? ( How do Pressure Groups put pressure on the Government?) Insider pressure groups ·They have strong links with decision makers and are regularly consulted, by Ministers and Civil Servants ·They are the groups that the government - local or national - considers to be legitimate and are, therefore, given access to decision makers.
Summary: In this article, the reader is informed about how provisional ballots might delay results in close races of the presidential election for days. The reason behind the delays is the new ID laws that are still being challenged in court. The law mandates voters to show identification at the polls this fall. This causes a problem for many people, especially senior citizens. Elders, who are home most of the time, don't see the need in carrying ID, thus they don't own any.
Not voting could be a benefit because of the voter’s lack of knowledge. Voting is not meant for everyone. Not everyone watches the news or C-SPAN. Not everyone watches the presidents give their speeches or go to their campaign rallies. The people that do go should vote because they know what’s going on.