DECEMBER HOT TOPICS PANEL on media, money and citizen engagement by Laura Guitar, Member, LWVOC

The December Hot Topics program featured a vibrant panel discussion that included observations about the decrease of digital outreach in the mid-term elections, the American oddity of categorizing "women's" issues as such, and the urgent need to remove the influence of big money from the political process.

With a diverse panel made up of former Presidential candidate Pat Schroeder, Rollins College student government leader Laura Berk, and UCF political science professor Terri Fine, the discussion focused on future opportunities and areas of focus for the LWV. WKMG anchor and League member Lauren Rowe moderated the program and kicked off by taking and posting photos of the event to Facebook in real time. While doing so, she noted, "If I was 16 years old, we would have been finished with this five minutes ago."

On the topic of social media, Berk noted that most students don't access traditional news sources such as newspapers and television news at all, relying instead on news apps (for iPhone or iPad), Facebook and Twitter. She noted that while students may be informed by these sources, they don't necessarily lead to a depth of understanding or involvement in issues. At the same time, she noted the need for a constant and accessible flow of information in order to keep the attention of younger citizens.

Dr. Fine noted that younger citizens also have a radically different view of citizenship itself. While older citizens look at it based on a sense of duty and interact with the political system through traditional engagement like voting, younger people look at citizenship through the lens of "engaged citizenship," which is likely to include working for causes through volunteerism, raising awareness about issues and extensive interaction through technology/Internet. She noted the need to expand our assessment of what political involvement really means in light of the next generation's means of engagement.

Throughout the discussion, Schroeder was clear on the need to address the influence of big money in the political process. She noted that the current cost for U.S. Congress races is $4M, which must be raised by candidates every two years in order to maintain their office. She also raised concerns about the devolution of politics to entertainment saying, "For all of us who care about this country, we have to clean this mudbath up."

Comments

[Slmsegal]

a few of the speakers' remarks that got attention:

Pat Schroeder: It costs $4 million to run for U.S. Congress - and that has to be raised that every 2 years! Big money is creating a systemic shift in democracy - lobbyists rule.

Terri Fine: We need to redefine political activism. U30 do have the skills - they are just using them in new social media formats, not necessarily defined as "political."

Laura Berk:
In the Nov 2010 election, students received no daily posts or online reminders. For many busy U24s, the elections/voting day snuck up on them unaware.

Where do students get their news? Not from daily TV or newspapers - but from Facebook, Twitter, apps for iPhone or Ipad.

All speakers agreed that the number/percentage of women in elected office/politics is still not where it should be. Catching up could take years.

[Slmsegal]

Thanks, Terri Fine, for these notes about your comments:

- on voter engagement/awareness:
In 2008, 8 million Floridians voted for president, but only 7 million Floridians voted on Amendment 2 - a Florida Constitutional amendment ("marriage amendment").

This information was cited in USA Today soon after the election and is likely available on the Florida Department of State Division of Elections site.

- on civic participation:
The scholarship, based on work by scholar Russell Dalton (a key scholar in the field), argues that:

Older citizens look at citizenship, and thus interact with the political system, based on a sense of duty: voting, paying taxes, serving on jury, etc. These activities are government determined - the government determines when/where elections take place as well as the rules (i.e. primary or caucus? early voting? registration requirements?)

Younger citizens look at citizenship through the lens that Dalton calls "engaged citizenship" and determine for themselves what and how they will engage with their government and society. These activities are more likely to include working for causes through volunteerism (i.e.
alternative spring break), raising awareness about the powerless (i.e.
Food not Bombs, activism around the crisis in Darfur, etc.) and
extensive interaction through technology/Internet.

The text from which Fine gathered this information is called The Good
Citizen, by Russell Dalton.