Having Your Political Voice Heard

Many of us feel like we are living in a world separate from politics – one where even if we choose to get involved, our voice wouldn’t matter anyway.

But, political matters do affect our everyday affairs from the cost of the parking ticket we may get to the number of police patrolling our streets making our communities safe to the amount of taxes that are taken from our pay checks. So, it is important to be part of politics and to have our opinion accounted for!

Political Structures (such as the government, the national laws, the rules for the police, and the judicial system) reflect power. So, making changes in politics is going to involve changing the way power is used.

Inside these political structures of power there are ways to keep the use of power in-check so that no one abuses the power they have.

Ways that political power is kept in-check:

• Having an official opposition to challenge the party that’s in power;
• Having several parties with different platforms to choose from;
• Having public votes to choose who is in power;
• Having national referendums on important decisions;
• Having a free media;
• Having the ability to impeach a President;
• Having a “loss-of-confidence” clause to force the government to change;
• Having the ability to lobby or petition for your position;
• Having a constitution that limits the power of the government plus protects the rights and freedom of individuals.

So, in having your political voice heard you can work within the structures that exist and you can work to change the structure itself.

Click here for a short description about the nature of power.