What does democracy mean, really?
- DemocrUSy
- May 2, 2023
- 2 min read
So, what does the word, "democracy" really mean in this century? Aside from our sepia-tone images of the founding "fathers," powdered wigs and Old English typeface, what does our voting system mean to the well-connected, technologically-advanced voter that stands today?
As we were looking into this for ourselves, we were finding that we were really in search of places of where our vote matters and how. There seems to be a ton of information online about making sure you get out there to vote, but when and where and how? According to the US Census Bureau, the 2020 Presidential Election had the most Americans come out to vote in history, roughly 154 MILLION people! That is up from the 137 million voters that participated in the 2016 election. While mail ballots and the pandemic had a lot to do with this, we find that there is more to the story as to why citizens choose to vote or not and what issues are important.
When the presidential elections are happening it is all over the news, we hear about it in most forms of media for months at a time. But, did you know elections can happen on those off-years? Actually, some of the local elections can happen every year. And, it actually might be MORE important for you and your community. Members of Congress (the Senate and House of Representatives), your local Mayor, Sheriff, your Governor, your City Council, District Attorney and your School Board... to just name a few organizations are extremely important for making a ton of local decisions that impact you and your families. Whether that is deciding how to fund the local library, for increasing minimum wage, for your local emergency services such as 911 and first responders, to protecting your environment and even making sidewalks in your neighborhood... it all matters. We often forget the representatives are all regular citizens who are elected into their roles to serve the people, cities, towns and counties they represent. Technically, they work for US.
Not sure how these impact your daily life? Consider this an ice-breaker, we are going to get into all this as time goes on. Our goal is that you leave here feeling so much better about how well you know your government - but not in a theoretical sense, in a real-life, daily routine, soccer park and pot-hole-repair kind-of-way.
Come along on this learning journey with us, we are growing as we speak!
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