Democracy, in its rudimentary form, is described as a kind of a political government whose powers are derived from the people. The power is often found by referendum or by electing representatives in county governments, members of Congress and other political government representatives.
Democracy is therefore the system of rule, which the people who are governed have chosen. Democracy contrasts with other systems like monarch, totalitarian rule, communistic rule, and timocracy. This is because, in the case of democracy, there is freedom of expression and the public is free to participate in sociopolitical activities. There is more freedom and the public participates directly in the system of governance.
In a democratic system, all citizens are allowed to vote whoever they want. Apart from participation in governance by the public, there is also liberalization of economic sector and social activities. It is worth noting that the United States is a Republic not a democracy. A republic is a system in which the people chose people who represent them in formulating policies.
Settings and the mediation organizations should be restructured to ensure that they enhance reclamation of public work for citizens. This will in turn reinvent the citizenship of Americans. The practice of public works is crucial in this aspect. This is because the practice forms a basic conceptual approach to civic education. Thus, public work provides the framework in which the reinvention of active citizenship is built.
Therefore high schools should incorporate the culture of mandatory community service in their curriculum. Work places should be in democratic environments which allow for the participation of their workers in community services and public activities. Forums should be encouraged so that people can assemble to petition their representatives to redress their grievances.
In these assemblies, the public can also speak and act in concert. Reinventing citizenship through the above ways has its own pros and cons. In addition to this, the civil society has the mandate to train people on civic education so that they become more effective in the contemporary political world.
First of all, teaching the habits and skills of citizenship has a particular challenge in that some members of the public are known to be law breakers. In any particular community, there are those people who heed the law and those who do not heed. Those who do not heed cannot implement the teachings of citizenship. Similarly with offering mandatory civic courses, those people who are law breakers, tend not to heed to civic education thus offering a direct challenge to this method.
The issue of mandatory community service has also been met with a lot of resistance from a section of the public. This is because some legislators claim that it is unconstitutional and also offers the public free labor from the young people. Due to these challenges, mandatory community service has not been implemented in all parts of the country.
Public spaces in communities are very important areas for the public to meet and discuss major issues concerning the community. Public spaces in communities which are supposed to be used for social activities and public gatherings have reduced in number. In most cities, public land has been changed into other utility because of the high demand on land.
Thus there are certain places where public land is no more thus making this method of reinventing citizenship not viable. Most neighborhoods have already been designed such that there are no easy connections between citizens. This creates a hindrance for people to meet and exchange ideas aimed at problem solving.
Time is also a major issue when it comes to participation in public activities. In most of the major U.S cities, everyone is busy in their own business and lifestyle. It is not possible to gather the desired number of members of the public at one given time. Collective problem solving becomes quite difficult in this case. Thus, a decision made in a particular gathering during a particular time will not necessarily be a decision representing everyone’s opinion.
Workplace policies also face a major challenge. Implementing the culture of community service and participation in public activities is quite hard for many workers. This is because some say that it adds on the burden of work they already have in the workplace.
Therefore, some workers will find it hard to do community service because they already have enough workload to worry about. The current budget of the Government does not give business enough incentives to help them actively take part in community service. This also compounds the issue since every business is aiming at making profit.
Democracy plays an important role in enhancing public participation. In the political arena, democracy enables Americans to vote whoever they want to. It also enables the public to participate in social activities they want to. And it also gives workers a democratic space in which they are able to work in good work conditions.
Such activities bring the public together thus creating a good atmosphere of solving problems. The process of public participation also helps in reinventing citizenship. Democracy gives the public enough space to engage in social activities without fear of reproach. Thus community service can be done without fear. Democracy in the work place also gives workers enough freedom to express their views and practice their culture.
The government usually does the people’s business without the participation of the public. Citizens are required to share the work of setting the public agenda with politicians and civic leaders. New opportunities should be formed or expanded so that the public can deliberate and also to elect leaders who are more serious with public judgment.
It should be noted that public confidence has the capacity to act effectively in political issues so that participation is enhanced. Those citizens who are most efficacious are much likely to try in political participation than the least efficacious. The personal logic of political participation has a relationship with the individual characteristics of the individual participation.
Thus, people participate in politics when they benefit by getting something tangible as a result of their participation. Political logic of political participation on the other hand has a direct relationship with political leaders. This is because the participation of politics by the public is governed by the way politicians influence them into taking part in the game.
The media comes in handy in bringing people into political participation. The media can create interactive shows which require participation of the public. However, creating new occasions for public deliberation such as National Issues Forum and Study Circles does not exactly involve every desired member of the public.
Not everyone will participate because of many issues, time, being one of them. There are also the issues of use of resources such as time and money which take a toll on public funds. Public forums use a lot of these resources which may also end up to waste if the decisions of the forums are not implemented.
Neighborhood councils can be quite effective in relation to aims of bringing the public back into political activities. These councils can serve as meeting points for the public to speak out and share their views concerning politics and governance. However, it has become quite difficult to bring people together in communities which share different cultures. This method may only be effective if proper plans are executed and enough resources are used.
Thus, the method may not be as easy, in the city, as in the country. It must be noted that this will also depend on the financial and political elite. The ruling class will always affect the community in the area of decision making. Conflicts between the elite can either be detrimental or of benefit to the community. Thus the conflict theory holds. This is because power is the ability to affect the conditions of life in a society.
Political campaigns play a major role in making the public to participate in political issues and public activities. This is because it acquaints the public on their political leaders and gives them an opportunity to select the leaders of their choice according to the politician’s policies. The length of political campaigns is therefore important because it is a factor that gives people enough time to engage in public and political activities.
Reducing the length of political campaigns only serves as a reducing factor in the time needed for public participation. The public will not have enough time needed to actively take part in political activities. It should be noted however, that political socialization plays a major role political activities. Thus if a person’s parents held a certain belief against a certain political party, the person will most likely have similar views.
The competition of political parties is well known as a breeding factor of public’s interest in politics. If this interest works to the advantage, higher turnout will be experienced during the voting process. Political parties create a good atmosphere for greater public participation if they treat each social group rationally.
Thus the young should be treated just like the adults and senior citizens. The financially handicapped should also be treated the same as the economic elite. If political parties become irrational towards members of a particular group, the members affected will become less interested in politics.
Reducing the cost of political campaigns will reduce the resources needed to familiarize the public with their leaders and therefore acts as an inhibiting factor in enhancing political participation by the public. It should also be noted, however, that, expanding public funding to political campaigns will not help much.
It will only be of bad taste to the public since the public will notice an element of misuse of funds. Political parties are therefore placed strategically in this issue. They have to balance between increasing funds for their political rallies and the public opinion about the same.
Conclusion
There are a number of concepts and theories which have been considered as major factors that affect public participation in the United States of America. Public participation is directly related to democracy. If there is total democracy, more of the public will participate in political and public activities.
Civic education is quite necessary in enhancing public participation because civic activities bring people together and learn how to solve problems. Schools are also required to offer civic education and to improve the participation of their students in community services. Communities should have public spaces so that neighbors can connect with each other. Thus reinventing citizenship and improving public participation of the public should be enhanced.