Resolved to be Involved
Abstract:
Houston, we have a problem. Many students are finding themselves away from home and therefore, away from their voting districts as the presidential election edges closer. With less than two months left in the countdown, students must consider alternatives to voting at home on Election Day....
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Heather Guthrie
posted 9/12/08 @ 11:18 AM CST
My comment was apparently a bit misunderstood. That Americans have so many opportunities to vote, but that we, on the whole, do not take advantage of those opportunities, is a joke. Unfortunately, it is not a very funny one. We DO have election after election after election. Consider the fact that San Angelo even has an elected police chief. I did not mean the comment as directed at only national elections. It is certainly a sad state of affairs that voter participation is so low, especially in local elections where one vote as a great deal more impact than in national elections. That was the point: people in other countries do not understand why we are so uninvolved, in spite of the many opportunities we have. Honestly, I don't get it either. Essentially, the story you have relayed is exactly what I was talking about. Apparently, it just did not come across.
Originally posted bySara M.
When I was reading this article, I was amazed that Heather Guthrie made this quote, "Europeans always joke that all we Americans do is vote, vote, vote...." I just got back from spending 5 months in Europe and it was the exact opposite.
I luckily got to take a class about the 2008 election and was one of the three Americans (the other two study abroad students from ASU, too) in that class and we got to hear what a class of Germans, and one Icelandic girl, thought about American politics. In that class, it was commonly joked about that Americans have many opportunities to vote in many different elections, but too many people don't care at all and never vote. Many in that class thought that they cared more about what happened in the US presidential elections than the average American.
Voting in Europe is a much bigger deal than in America and I think that is a good reason to vote. It's a horribly true stereotype that Americans don't care enough about our own politics and there needs to be more emphasis to get Americans to actually vote. Voting on campus is a good way to get college students to vote and hopefully also start a tradition to vote in, at least, every presidential election.
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Sara M.
posted 9/08/08 @ 3:18 PM CST
I luckily got to take a class about the 2008 election and was one of the three Americans (the other two study abroad students from ASU, too) in that class and we got to hear what a class of Germans, and one Icelandic girl, thought about American politics. In that class, it was commonly joked about that Americans have many opportunities to vote in many different elections, but too many people don't care at all and never vote. Many in that class thought that they cared more about what happened in the US presidential elections than the average American.
Voting in Europe is a much bigger deal than in America and I think that is a good reason to vote. It's a horribly true stereotype that Americans don't care enough about our own politics and there needs to be more emphasis to get Americans to actually vote. Voting on campus is a good way to get college students to vote and hopefully also start a tradition to vote in, at least, every presidential election.