Citizen Participation PSC 2301

As a citizen, my most common practice of participating in my government is voting. I vote in hopes of getting an official that I see who is fit to govern, but there's more to it. Government is suppose to serve and represent its own citizens.

Beneficial or complications occur depending in the relationship between the two. There are constructive ways such as actively contacting officials in discussing political issues or voicing your own opinion in hopes to demonstrate for the common good. Participation of citizens for their government can be low due to number of factors such as: neglect and/or avoidance. Neglect is basically the non participation of citizens or officials in the government. When either party feels there is nothing to do to fix the problem or lack of trust. There are times when citizen fail to voice their opinion and who rather opt out for other solutions outside of government help.

Depending on the majority of citizens, it can impact my life. I am more of neglectful citizen as much of political issues do concern me, but I feel I have a lack of power in knowing my voice will not make a change. I mostly see issues in a realist perspective, thinking that participation only occurs in the interest of individuals.

Quote Response PSC 2301

On the first day of class, we opened with a quote that was from a poem by Rumi called "There is a field."

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, 

there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass, 

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”

doesn’t make any sense.”

From my own understanding, this quote is about the state of mind or a physical place where we are free. Unblocked from ignorance and judgement, we begin to think of the bigger picture rather than being narrow-minded. Life becomes more rich and vast as we struggle to understand the meaning of it. 

In relation to the class, I should not only learn the basic inner-workings of the Government at the State and local level, but begin to apply my newly found knowledge to the world.

Tensions Between State and Local Government PSC 2301

The tensions between state and local levels of government occur due to different needs and opinions to solve conflicts. On the local level, many try to assert their control over policy making in representation of what the residents want as a little change can impact the community. On the State level, they seek to uniformity, in the best interest for all communities in the State. The conflict between the two have some benefits.

For one it gets more residents in one community to participate more in political conflict. Being able to effectively communicate and voice their concerns. Each district in a State vary in needs of policy. For example, the central parts of California are in dire need of water due to the weather conditions, such as the drought. Whereas the northern parts of California may be in concern of flooding in dense populated areas, affecting public transportation.