In knowable magazine By Katherine Ellison expressing her thoughts on factual matters.
https://knowablemagazine.org/article/society/2021/role-of-political-parties-democracy
Reading this chapter I have understood that “political parties are two of the most easily identified forms of factions in the United States.” And how these groups “mediate institutions responsible for communicating public preferences to the government.” In addition, I learned that many members of political parties have similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or policy goals.
In addition I learned that the political parties perform multiple task in the democratic society such as:
> Soliciting and articulating public policy priorities and civic needs and problems as identified by members and supporters.
>adjusting contradicting requests and changing over them into general approaches
>Enrolling and preparing contender for public office
Since we briefly touched on the topic of student loans in the US, I decided to make a short blog post about this subject. Did you know that as of the end of 2020, student loan debt surpassed $1.7 trillion? The Federal reserve estimated that in the third quarter of 2020 this debt increased nearly 4% compared to the previous year. This amount compared to 2010 has also increased by about 102%.
Due to this there are proposed student debt relief policies. However at this time there are just proposals for a resolution.
I am fortunate enough that I never had to take out a loan, however I can understand and see the struggle of student loan debt through family and friends.
Reading this chapter gave me a more vivid understanding of what Political participation is based on its different types. Such as taking part in supportive activities which are designed to help raise money and awareness of many societal problems. Where an example could be racing, running, and biking. Then there is symbolic participation which is habitual acts to show support for the political system.
So I am pretty sure that everyone is aware of the elections coming up in June. I have been seeing commercials for the candidates and they all seem like good choices. I wish I could pick them all. LOL. One that is particularly sticking out to me to Miya Wilkes. She is an African American women who’s focus is on the reforming the police and putting an end to police brutality. That topic is something that effects me too being I am African American.
While I have never experienced Police brutality or racism, when I racism I mean direct racism. It still affects me. I hope I never have to face these things face to face but it is most likely that I will.
Becoming a poll worker during election time is a good way to earn some money aside from your normal job. The next election in NYC is the Mayoral election. The primary is on June 22, 2021. The winners of the primary will then move on to the general election on November 22, 2021.
I have linked the site on how to become a poll worker, at the bottom there is a form so you can apply if interested.
I have also linked an article with a brief introductory of those currently running for Mayor.
https://www.elections.ny.gov/BecomePollworker.html
https://www.curbed.com/article/everyone-running-for-new-york-city-mayor.html
When it comes to the Electoral college this topic wasn’t something I always understood. I understand now that each state gets a certain amount of electors determined by the census. The amount of electores varies from states. In order for a candidate to become president they have to get 270 electoral votes. Also a candidate can have more votes than the next but still loose if they do not reach that 270 mark.
This brings me to the topic Popular vote. The popular vote is basically when a candidate has a lot more people who voted for them but not enough electoral votes. For example, a candidate can win Texas, Florida, and New York and that adds up to 96 electoral votes.
The political stance that Democrats and Republicans have today are not the same as they were in the past. Around 100 years ago these parties had switched. In the past it was the Republicans who wanted to expand federal power, help fund infrastructure, wanted protective tariffs, and passed laws granting protections for Black Americans which advanced social justice. These were opposed by Democrats during this time.
When Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt won the election of 1936, he supported the New Deal. These were “a set of Depression-remedying reforms including regulation of financial institutions, the founding of welfare and pension programs, infrastructure development and more.” The Republican candidate, Alf Landon, opposed these actions of federal power. This highlighted a major change in our political parties.
https://www.livescience.com/34241-democratic-republican-parties-switch-platforms.html
