Blog Post #3

 

Checks and balances is pivotal for our government to run successfully. Which is why out of the eight values of free expression that resonates with me the most is, "Check on Governmental Power". The term “Separation of Powers” was coined by the 18th century philosopher Montesquieu. Separation of powers is a model that divides the government into separate branches, each of which has separate and independent powers. This ensures that no one branch of government becomes too powerful. This is extremely important to me because I want to go into law once I graduate college. As a representative democracy I believe that it is important for us to be fair and transparent across the board. One of the most important precedents was Marbury v Madison in 1803 which, "established the principle of judicial review—the power of the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. The unanimous opinion was written by Chief Justice John Marshall."By allowing the separation of powers, it allows us the freedom to have our voices heard. 

This leads me to what I think is just as important if not more important than checks on government power. That is, "Participation in Self Government" as our 2022 midterm vastly approaches, it has made me think about how I participate in our government. This semester I decided to start volunteering with the Guilford County Democratic Party. One of the main tasks that I went out and did was door knocking. In order to door knock we use an app called MiniVAN, it allows you to put in a list code that gives you addresses of residents. These residents are either Unaffiliated or a part of the Democratic Party, it can also tell you if the person inside the house has voted in any past elections or if they have not voted at all.

When I went door knocking I had a lot of people not answer the door so I left the voter guide that we are given to pass out on their doors. The people that did answer the door were surprisingly very nice and said that they were either already registered to vote or going to register; They also said that they would definitely be voting for the Democratic Party. On the Voter Guide that we hand out is all of the candidates in each race, as well as certain candidates information such as Brandon Gray and Cheri Beasley. It also includes all of the locations as well as the voting location schedule. An important thing that we are told as volunteers is to make sure that people vote all the way through the ballot. Research shows that people tend to pay attention to the top and as it goes on they stop filling out the ballot or circle anything. 

Your vote may not directly elect the president, but if your vote joins enough others in your voting district or county, your vote undoubtedly matters when it comes to electoral results. As someone who has spent the last semester volunteering for the Guilford County Democratic Party. Our entire purpose is to persuade who we are talking to, to vote our cause, in this case I am asking people to vote for candidates in the Democratic Party in North Carolina. Through peer pressuring those who we are talking to we are doing so in a way that looks to re enforce identity. Our democracy is fueled by voter participation by telling people that them voting is crucial to our representative democracy. It reinforces what it means to be a voter in the United States.