[Slchtjgb]

Originally posted by GePap


Having been involved in elections, people can volunteer time instead of money, and while a lot of working poor work lots of hours, even if they volunteered just say two hours to help set up a mailing, or do some phone banking, they can make a small difference.

At the least, they can actually write letters to their representatives, because a politician will assume that anyone willing to take the time to write them a letter is someone who will be voting next time (again, having worked for a politicians and having read such letters, I am speaking with some experience on the issue), and while on the level of Federal senators, Governors, or the Precidency such letters don't matter much given the vastness of the voter pool, for House of Representative races, and for state legislative positions and local positions these letters do matter because politicians know that not that many people vote (sadly) and therefore they want to maximize their popularity with the few that do vote.

Most of the rules and regulations that affect people's lives directly are made at the local and state levels. Its sad that it is these levels of government that Americans ignore the most.
Most people aren't aware of how to participate. And even if they were, if people were educated and articulate enough to write letters and petition government officials or even organizations that lobby the government, then they probably would be in a better position in life and wouldn't require assistance from the government.

Representative democracy can only benefit the public if the representatives look out for the public's interest. That's the whole reason why representatives are needed... because the public can't be bothered with the day to day issues at hand that the government should be trusted to take care of. The problem with the ideal of representative democracy and how it is practiced in America is that the system is set up so that private interests can exert much more influence than public advocates.