Ashley Stockton

November 11, 2011

Democratic Participation Reflection

In my definition political participation is the act of voting and actively researching the issues in order to understand them full before making a decision. Politics is the debate that occurs between candidates who are vying for the same position. There are a lot of ways to participate in politics. You can petition the government in order to get a certain thing passed, voting for local offices, voting on a national level (presidential election), and voting on the state level on things like propositions. It is very important to participate in the political process. By participating you are effect how your own government runs. I believe that it is everyones personal responsibility to inform themselves on the issues and candidates before voting. I personally research all the propositions before voting. In our class we were each assigned one issue specifically to become an expert on. However I researched all of the issues and candidates on my own time. I did this through the internet and was sure to look at both sides before coming to a conclusion on my own feelings. This was the first election that I was able to vote in and I wanted to make sure that my vote went where I wanted it to go. I was very impressed when I read about Father Berrigan. The fact that a priest would take such an active stance politically and go out of his way in order to make his voice heard is inspiring. Father Berrigan would not step down or recant what he believed in even when he was put on the FBIs ten most wanted list. His research and beliefs lead him to the conclusion that the Vietnam War was in fact wrong. I hope that one day I will have the courage to stick to my beliefs like he

did. Father Berrigan faced a great deal of adversity in his life but never stepped down because of it. While I have great respect for this man I do not support some of the ways in which he used in order to prove his points. There was one man who went as far as setting himself on fire in protest. Father Berrigan cared for this man afterwards and wrote to his family about what a brave and courageous man he was. This is my mind goes against one of the Fathers beliefs. I think that if you believe in non violence that it should include non violence towards yourself aswell. In the future I plan on being a corporate lawyer. As a lawyer in such a field I will start to understand more fully why corporations support certain propositions and are against others. I will use this knowledge to help shape my decision. I also plan on counting the research which I conducted for this election throughout my life. I thinking that voting is the most important part of political participation and I plan on being an active voter throughout my life. In many ways I would like to be like Babe Zaharias. She made a difference politically just by living her life and doing the things that she wanted to do. I hope that my career will help me a make a positive influence in some way like Babe. She was able to help with the Womens Movement and become a role model for young girls just by doing what she was passionate about. I am passionate about law and what it means in our society. Maybe by sticking to my beliefs in that field and trying my best I will be able to be a positive influence for future lawyers. I think that political participation is an important part of our life. We have been lucky enough to grow up in a country where our voice matters and we have a say in the way things are done. We have a responsibility to ourselves and our future children.