The United States government is an institution made of the people, by the people, and for the people. Our government was designed to protect citizens’ rights so that the will of the majority will prevail. The majority is still extremely powerful in government, yet their will seems not to be as well represented in current policy. This discrepancy between public opinion and lawmaking has multiple causes but the largest issue, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is the citizens themselves and their unwillingness to take action in government.    

The people of the United States limit their say in government by remaining both uninformed and apathetic. Unfortunately, these two issues go hand in hand, as the general public’s ignorance usually stems from apathy itself. It is extremely dangerous when a society handicaps itself like this because it gives radicals and those with unpopular opinions the opportunity to take power.

This is illustrated by the two major parties of today. The fundamental problem with the two-party system is that the people’s will is not accurately represented within it. Many people choose to support either the Democrats or Republicans simply because they are seen as the only two choices. A real problem arises however when the people’s will does not perfectly align with one of these two parties. For example, I know many Democrats whose opinions obviously don’t align with Republicans but also don’t even come close to being the same as the current Democratic platform. So the question is: who do they vote for?

Many Americans today face this dilemma and exemplify why change is needed. Rather than just picking a candidate that is seen as a lesser evil, the people need to hold the two major parties accountable or start supporting more third parties that better represent what they believe.

The people of the U.S. need to educate themselves and stay involved in politics so that people that they actually agree with are the ones taking office. It may seem like one vote does not matter or that voting third party is a waste, but each person has to be the change that they want to see in the world.

If everyone got involved and voted for what they truly wanted, then the people would truly start to see the change in this country that they are hoping for.

The US citizens need to take the power back into their own hands so that this country may once again be of the people, by the people, and for the people.