POLITICS
Alison Chiu of Heritage High School
31 March 2024
It is undeniable that the American political space has intensified in the past few years, and it can now only be characterized as intensely polarized. New data reveals that “ideological thinking is now much more closely aligned with partisanship than in the past,” according to the Pew Research Center.
Such partisanship has often resulted in so-called “safe districts” where one political party is essentially guaranteed a political seat, a phenomenon that UVA Today reports can discourage voting.
Combined with rising global tensions and tense international relations amongst many countries, it becomes apparent that Americans, particularly youth who are just beginning to get involved with democracy, face an unfriendly political climate. Although the rise of social media and the Internet has allowed youth to engage with politics like never before, this polarization is only detrimental to both youth political participation and our democracy.
Such exigence reveals the necessity for youth to be politically active – as soon as they can. In particular to voting, political scientist Mark Franklin reveals that “18-year-olds [who] missed their first year as eligible voters, they were less likely to vote again—not even when they reached 21.” The same applies to political advocacy in general – the quicker youth become involved, the more lasting the “habit” (political advocacy) later down the line.
Of course, voting is just one of many civic duties an American citizen has. For democracy to function like a democracy, public participation – especially from groups that represent our country as a whole – is key to unlocking what is so unique about democracy: the government is always based on the “consent” of the people.
However, it is an unfortunately common misconception that a singular vote does not matter in the grand scheme of millions of other voters – even the president is technically elected by the Electoral College, not by popular vote.
However, a vote is not only just one vote, it is symbolic of an individual’s opinion, even in the sea of millions of others. Such efforts are such as ants in an ant colony – a small ant seemingly has little impact, until it does. It is a fundamental understanding that there is strength in numbers, and there is certainly strength in opinions in American democracy.
Even so, political advocacy for youth does not just have to end at voting – there are multiple ways for youth to advocate for their political opinions: lobbying, public commenting, volunteering, and even talking to people all count.
I have personally had the pleasure to deeply explore a variety of methods for youth civic engagement that have developed my love for political advocacy but also just advocacy in general.
For instance, I have been able to public comment at city council meetings many times to advocate for local issues and changes, which has allowed me to not only get much more hands-on experience with the issues but also discover how municipal government works.
Additionally, I have been able to work with legislative offices to advocate for bills. Surprisingly, it is remarkably easy to get in touch with both your local political representatives and even the representatives who are sponsoring legislation that will eventually affect you.
Though granted, much of my political advocacy has been facilitated by youth organizations such as Sustainable Leaders in Action and Generation UP. Sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of research and a strong motivation and predisposition for civic engagement.
Ultimately, through my involvement with each of these activities, I have come to realize how impactful it can be to be a political advocate as a student and youth. As much as it might seem that our government is this unattainable, immutable force, Americans live in a free democratic society. By design and nature, our country has been structured to sway to the tides and waves of people’s opinions.
However, our country can only successfully follow this variability by listening to our youth – who are the future generations to inherit present-day society. The only way to listen to such voices is to encourage and understand how important it is for our youth to become politically active in our country first.
The Brentwood Youth Press 