Maddie's Take On Politics

(Janssen) This week I watched three really interesting and eye opening TedTalks, all centered around the issue of divisiveness in politics. One video I watched was A Republican mayor's plan to replace partisanship with policy by G.T. Bynum. Bynum argued that in order to make progress, we need to bring people together with data and facts, instead of negativity and childish contests. Another TedTalk I watched was How our friendship survives our opposing politics by Caitlin Quattromani and Lauren Arledge. In this video, these moms talked about how even though they are part of different political parties, they get along. They propose that instead of judging other peoples' differing beliefs and values, people need to not let emotions get in the way, and instead exchange dialogue to hear other points of view. The last video was  We the people, and the republic we must reclaim by Lawrence Lessig. Lessig talked about how "funders," are essentially the ones who get to choos...

The United States is a Democracy that prides itself on freedom and personal rights. My country is built largely upon the principle of the freedom of choice, which heavily reflects choosing our own leaders and other people of government. But not everyone living in the United States who is old enough actually takes advantage of this freedom. In fact, in the 2016 Presidential Election, only 56% of eligible voters cast ballots (Desilver). Although this number was higher in the 2020 Presidential Election with upwards of 70% (Thorson), for a country that prides itself on hand selecting those who make decisions for the wellbeing of its citizens, it sure has a funny way of showing it.  So how can we increase voter participation? Well that’s simple, create ways to make it easier for people to vote. One way of doing this is to automatically register people 18 year of age and over to vote. Many states have already passed the Automatic Voter Registration Policy, including 17 states and the Dis...