What is your responsibility in a democracy?

[LoZoccolo]

Poll question: What is your responsibility in a democracy?

Someone once wrote this, regarding voting:

"Under our system, that is where my responsibility ends. If I choose to involve myself more than that, I go above and beyond my responsibility."

Do you agree with this statement?

[William769]

1. Not even close to agreeing.

Forgive me for the following quote but it's true "freedom isn't free".

[Nay]

2. I voted that I did not agree, but I ALMOST agree. Along with the

responsibility to vote, there is the responsibility to inform oneself so that one's vote is an informed one, not one based on whether you'd like "to have a beer" with whichever candidate wants your vote. That's the main responsibility -- to know the history, know the opinions and facts, and then vote intelligently.

That to me is the responsibility.

[Virginia Dare]

3. No, then you have to hold those that you vote for accountable

for their actions.

[LoZoccolo]

4. By what means?

I ask because people often cite voting as a means.

[rucky]

5. And people don't even have to vote if they don't want to.

It is a citizen's right not to participate & they're still a citizen (maybe even a responsible one in other ways). I don't see why they wouldn't want to vote and participate in all the ways Democracy allows us to, but I'll have to agree with the statement.

[Boojatta]

6. Voting to nominate someone compared to voting to elect someone

If you do nothing but play a role in the choice of what the options will be and other people do nothing but play a role in choosing one of those options, then isn't your role bigger than the role of those other people?

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

7. In this one, the "leaders" want it to be to "trust them"

[LoZoccolo]

8. I'm more interested in your answer. n/t

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

9. Okay, I just voted no. We have more responsibility than just voting

in my opinion.

It should be enough to check out the "normal" news sources and getting oneself informed.

That obviously doesn't apply now.

Problem is it isn't realistic to expect all citizens to be as involved as those of us at DU generally are, even to the point of seeking out alternative news services.

I guess we all do what we're able and willing.

[banana republican]

10. Democracy; Use it or Loose it. n/t

[LWolf]

11. Let's loose it.

Setting democracy loose might be interesting.

[LWolf]

12. It depends.

On what the other responsibilities might be. I see the responsibilities inherent in a thriving democracy to be these:

1. To be educated.
2. To be willing to educate yourself before you vote.
3. To tell candidates and reps what you want.
4. To vote
5. To hold your representatives accountable for their actions.

[LoZoccolo]

13. Do you think advocating a certain position/candidate would be one?

If, of course, you had carefully considered your options?

[LWolf]

14. Do you mean campaigning?

I don't think everyone has to campaign, but I think everyone ought to be able to discuss issues and candidates openly.

I hesitate on the campaigning part. I tried to do my best in '04, although I'd never campaigned before. I bit the bullet and did it any way. I really disliked it.

I informed myself and made my choices. That's what they were; informed choices. I didn't appreciate others mailing, calling, knocking on doors, etc. trying to push their pov or choices on me. I listened while I was informing myself. Once I'd made my choice, it was incredibly intrusive. It felt disrespectful, like they didn't think I was intelligent enough to make an informed choice without their help. I was sick of "talking points," rhetoric, slogans, key phrases, and advertisements that did little, imo, to convince anyone who actually exercised their capicity for thought.

When I bit the bullet to campaign, I felt like I was doing to others what I so hated when they did to me. I wrote a couple hundred hand-written, not typed and copied, letters. I made phone calls. Not a single person that I called wanted to hear from me. They'd already made up their minds. I don't know if my letters had an effect or if all that effort got tossed into the round file with the rest of the "junk" mail. I just flat out didn't like it.

I would have preferred some sort of conversation with people who really wanted to inform themselves, who really wanted input before they made their choices.

I don't think I'll ever "campaign" like that again. I don't see that as a responsibility. If I see better ways to inform voters, I'll support those.

Advocating for a superior candidate, when that candidate doesn't "fit" the status quo, can be futile. Who listens?

[LoZoccolo]

16. Not necessarily in an official sense.

It could be just in conversation with people, for instance.

[LWolf]

19. I do some of that.

Very generally. My generation, at least where I existed, was raised on the "rule" that there were two forbidden topics of conversation among civil people: religion and politics. It was considered extremely rude to butt into someone else's religious or political choices. I have a hard time overcoming that conditioning, especially since I still don't want anyone poking their nose into my religious or political preferences. Being a non-christian liberal progressive who has lived in rw christo-republican enclaves for most of her life, part of that may be self-protection. Still, I find myself not discussing specifics unless asked.

I tend to discuss issues, without mentioning party or politician by name. Unless someone asks, and then I'll give them as much info as they'll take.

[OnionPatch]

15. Well it depends on what you want

If you're too freaking lazy to do more than drag yourself to the polls every few years, your democracy is going to crumble. It takes a hell of a lot more than just voting. For one thing, someone has to make sure the voting is even working and as of now, it's not working very well at all, is it?

[raccoon]

17. To keep one's head out of one's arse. To notice what's going on. nt

[Mz Pip]

18. I vote as hard as I can

but more importantly I consider myself one of the informed electorate. Anybody can vote. THere were people out there who voted for Bush because he looked cool in levis.

Mz Pip
:dem: