In the text “We the People” the authors discuss the importance of citizens of the United
States of America to become more engaged with what’s going on in our government, the
politics that affect our government, and what is involved with bettering our government. It
is important that U.S. citizens understand their role within the government and take the
initiative to educate themselves and others around them on the issues at hand within
America. The problem that the American government faces constitutes a political crisis.
The issues within the political system definitely present the need for an urgent course of
action in order to prevent any further harm to our society as a whole. U.S. citizens need to
gain political knowledge, become engaged with politics, and seek informative political
information (not just from the news on the television that is built on entertainment). Even
though the American government is in a detrimental state, through hard work and
perseverance from American citizens, it can definitely get better.
There is a great number of American citizens who do not trust in the government. In the
text, “We the People”, the authors state, “By 2010, only 25 percent of Americans reported
trusting the government in Washington ‘to do what is right’ all or most of the time, down
from 75 percent in the early 1960s” (pg.7). The mistrust of the government is a major issue
that didn’t just happen for nothing. Several factors come in to play but a big one was the
war in Iraq. For example, the authors state, “In March 2007, 54 percent of those surveyed
believed that the Bush administration had deliberately misled the American public about
whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction” (pg.7). Other factors contribute to the
widespread cynicism such as the economic issues before and after the recession, as well as
the ongoing “congressional battle over raising the national debt limit”. In order for the
American government to have a strong and tight-knit democracy, it is important that the
American people trust their government because they rely on them for pretty much
everything that goes on in their daily lives. And if the American people can’t trust the ones
who provide for them to do the right thing, the greater the impact of the crisis to spiral into
an even bigger problem,
Another major issue within the political system is the fact that a vast amount of American
people do not participate in the voting process. While voting is considered the “building
