Does a workable democracy require a well-informed electorate?

Our Well-Informed Electorate?

Nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they think Obama is Muslim, up from the 11 percent who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released Thursday. The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is down to just 34 percent.

The largest share of people, 43 percent, said they don't know his religion, an increase from the 34 percent who said that in early 2009.

Does a workable democracy require a well-informed electorate?

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/08/18/us/politics/AP-US-Poll-Obamas-Religion.html?hp

With everything going so horribly wrong, maybe people simply haven't committed the time to knowing the answer to trivialities like Obama's religious beliefs? I don't understand why this is significant.

With everything going so horribly wrong, maybe people simply haven't committed the time to knowing the answer to trivialities like Obama's religious beliefs? I don't understand why this is significant.

Oh?I don't know?I just took it to mean that 2/3 of the electorate either didn't know or was wrong about an issue that's been highlighted in the news for over two years now. To me, that's astounding & sad & doesn't bode well for our country/society. I hope your take?that it's trivial & insignificant?is more accurate than my take on this.

Oh?I don't know?I just took it to mean that 2/3 of the electorate either didn't know or was wrong about an issue that's been highlighted in the news for over two years now. To me, that's astounding & sad & doesn't bode well for our country/society. I hope your take?that it's trivial & insignificant?is more accurate than my take on this.

I didn't know what Obama's religion was before you brought it up. I was under the impression he attended some weird church occasionally in Chicago, but generally didn't practice. (and I feel I'm pretty "up on current events".) I just get the sense some feel this is a signifigant issue, but for the vast majority of us it doesn't matter.

Dang straight the Electorate needs to be informed. Informed of how the Electoral College works, its intent and how to vote accordingly.

As far as the Electorates carrying out the task they are charged, this is all they need to know.

I just get the sense some feel this is a signifigant issue, but for the vast majority of us it doesn't matter.

I'm glad it doesn't matter to you--I hope you're right about "the vast majority"--but 18% is not an insignificant minority.

One reason I think it's significant is that 2/3 of Americans don't want a Muslim Cultural Center built w/in 2 blocks of Ground Zero, while they wouldn't have any problem w/ any other religion--Christian, Hindu, Confucian, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Jewish...Thus, the fact that 18 percent of Americans incorrectly think the Prez is Muslim is, I think, significant.

I don't think any of those polls are truly representative of the general population OR those who are most likely to vote.

The fact that that many people don't know the President's general religion - especially considering the issues surrounding it during the election is a cause for concern on a general knowledge and a "propaganda" level.

Oh?I don't know?I just took it to mean that 2/3 of the electorate either didn't know or was wrong about an issue that's been highlighted in the news for over two years now. To me, that's astounding & sad & doesn't bode well for our country/society. I hope your take?that it's trivial & insignificant?is more accurate than my take on this.

Maybe the confusion his religion comes from Obama himself. I watched one of his speeches when he said that he was Muslim, but then "corrected" his statement to say he was Christian.

Who really cares? If he was doing a decent job, I wouldn't care if he was all religions combined or none at all.

If your thread is meant to say that the electorate are dumb, and that democracy cannot work with uninformed people, I think you are off point. First, we don't have a true democracy. Secondly, the politicians, corporations and news media have been spoon-feeding us lies for a long time. How do you think we got GW Bush?

Paraphrasing one politician, long deceased, when politicians begin to put their own interests first, we all lose.

I don't think any of those polls are truly representative of the general population...

Why not?

How many intelligent people do you know who answer those polls?

Who really cares? If he was doing a decent job, I wouldn't care if he was all religions combined or none at all.

I couldn't agree with you more.

Maybe the confusion his religion comes from Obama himself. I watched one of his speeches when he said that he was Muslim, but then "corrected" his statement to say he was Christian.

Do you have a reference or citation for this?

If your thread is meant to say that the electorate are dumb, and that democracy cannot work with uninformed people, I think you are off point...the politicians, corporations and news media have been spoon-feeding us lies for a long time.

My thread was meant to pose the question of whether we should be concerned that the electorate seems to be poorly informed. If I understand correctly, you say "no, we shouldn't be concerned, 'cause we've been poorly-informed & misinformed for a long time."

When this country was founded, the electorate was uninformed more so that today. That is why they made it a representative form of democracy. You elect people from your area to make the rules for your area, representing you in the bigger picture (federal government). People busy working on establishing a farm didn't have time to worry about the legal workings of government.

Want to read something interesting about politicians -- go read the 27th Amendment to the US Constitution. Politicians have essentially blocked the people from having a say so in their government, when it comes to rules about politicians (salary in particular).

How many intelligent people do you know who answer those polls?

So, when you see a poll result like, say "President Obama's job approval rating dipped to 44% for the week of Aug. 9-15," you'd say that this result was distorted by the fact that most respondents were unintelligent?

So, when you see a poll result like, say "President Obama's job approval rating dipped to 44% for the week of Aug. 9-15," you'd say that this result was distorted by the fact that most respondents were unintelligent?

I don't know if I agree with scooter on this, but it does depend a lot on who did the polling and how the questions were asked. Popularity polls by companies like Gallup seem to be pretty accurate.

ugabuga, if you feel the electorate isn't well informed, how would you go about addressing the issue?

So, when you see a poll result like, say "President Obama's job approval rating dipped to 44% for the week of Aug. 9-15," you'd say that this result was distorted by the fact that most respondents were unintelligent?

I think it varies by who is doing the polling and what their agenda is. Lots of polls ask questions phrased to get the results they want.

I think President Obama is just as religious as Ronald Reagan was actually--these poll numbers on this topic, coming after 8 yrs. Geo Bush Jr.'s very public and very pronounced Christianity doesn't really surprise me at all.

ugabuga, if you feel the electorate isn't well informed, how would you go about addressing the issue?

Well, I originally posed the question: "Does a workable democracy require a well-informed electorate?"

Amend that to "representative democracy", per Koa. Also, if I understand Koa's response correctly, he thinks the electorate in general has been poorly-informed & mis-informed since the beginning of the republic, & since the republic has been "working" since its inception, there's no need to do anything.

Yes, I think the electorate is poorly informed. Unlike Koa, my gut feeling (intuition) makes me think that somehow we'd be a better nation/society if we were better informed.

That said, I admit to being short on answers re how to make us better informed. I was hoping by posing the question that some interesting ideas might surface in the discussion.

It's obvious to say "better education," but that's a real brier patch when we start talking specifics.

Discussion boards like this one help inform; I've been made aware of facts I hadn't known before via SoWal.com. When someone on this forum misstates a "fact," he/she is corrected pretty quickly. But--the folks on this forum are interested & generally well-informed.

I make it a personal policy to respond to political/religious emails that distort facts. Many I know complain about them but don't respond. I take Edmund Burke's admonition seriously: "All that's necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." If I get a twisted email, I don't want my silence to be misinterpreted as agreement.

I used the example of electorate ignorance about the Prez's religion as a vehicle to discuss this--perhaps I should have chosen a different issue, since you think it's trivial & Koa thinks it doesn't matter.

Perhaps I should be neither astounded nor saddened about the electorate's level of knowledge about any issue--but somehow I am--even if I don't know how to solve it.

I think the internet is doing a wonderful job of improving people's awareness of what goes on in Washington. Politics has changed in the last ten years because of it. People aren't relying on a one hour nightly newscast to get their fill anymore.

I think the internet is doing a wonderful job of improving people's awareness of what goes on in Washington. Politics has changed in the last ten years because of it. People aren't relying on a one hour nightly newscast to get their fill anymore.

I agree. Hopefully, folks are using the internet to inform themselves on important issues & not just playing games & viewing porn.

When my son was in Boy Scouts, I taught the merit badges on Citizenship in the Community, in the Nation & in the World (3 separate badges). I'd like to think that the scouts that got the badges under my mentorship became better informed citizens & maybe even developed an interest they'd take into adulthood.
So, I'd say, volunteer your time to help inform/interest young people in important issues. Glenda Wood is doing this: check out the thread "The Dreyfuss Initiative" on this forum.

Even though the folks on this forum have different worldviews, I hope most of us can agree that a well-informed citizen is a better citizen.

Our Well-Informed Electorate?

Nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they think Obama is Muslim, up from the 11 percent who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released Thursday. The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is down to just 34 percent.

The largest share of people, 43 percent, said they don't know his religion, an increase from the 34 percent who said that in early 2009.

Does a workable democracy require a well-informed electorate?

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/08/18/us/politics/AP-US-Poll-Obamas-Religion.html?hp

The real problem that everyone has skipped over is in the opening post, highlighted in red. Apparently, ugabuga thinks that the 18% is wrong. This man is a muslim, and you are just upset that 18% of us figured it out.















































just kidding

With everything going so horribly wrong, maybe people simply haven't committed the time to knowing the answer to trivialities like Obama's religious beliefs? I don't understand why this is significant.

deflector shields up, set phasers on stun!

I think the internet is doing a wonderful job of improving people's awareness of what goes on in Washington. Politics has changed in the last ten years because of it. People aren't relying on a one hour nightly newscast to get their fill anymore.

Apparently not since you claim in post #2 that "everything" is going so horribly wrong. Really? Everything?

deflector shields up, set phasers on stun!

Apparently not since you claim in post #2 that "everything" is going so horribly wrong. Really? Everything?

Don't shoot the messenger!

Well, I originally posed the question: "Does a workable democracy require a well-informed electorate?"

Amend that to "representative democracy", per Koa. Also, if I understand Koa's response correctly, he thinks the electorate in general has been poorly-informed & mis-informed since the beginning of the republic, & since the republic has been "working" since its inception, there's no need to do anything.

Yes, I think the electorate is poorly informed. Unlike Koa, my gut feeling (intuition) makes me think that somehow we'd be a better nation/society if we were better informed. (Again, I didn't say that and I don't think that. You are making up sh-t.)

That said, I admit to being short on answers re how to make us better informed. I was hoping by posing the question that some interesting ideas might surface in the discussion.

It's obvious to say "better education," but that's a real brier patch when we start talking specifics. (good luck on getting government schools to educate the masses. The government doesn't seem to want an educated electorate. They feed the electorate sound bites, with key phrases repeated, and many lies about their opponents. I even know people of both Republican and Democrat Parties who are registered with the opposing parties just to vote for the worst candidate. We get what we ask for.)

Discussion boards like this one help inform; I've been made aware of facts I hadn't known before via SoWal.com. When someone on this forum misstates a "fact," he/she is corrected pretty quickly. But--the folks on this forum are interested & generally well-informed.

I make it a personal policy to respond to political/religious emails that distort facts. Many I know complain about them but don't respond. I take Edmund Burke's admonition seriously: "All that's necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." If I get a twisted email, I don't want my silence to be misinterpreted as agreement.

I used the example of electorate ignorance about the Prez's religion as a vehicle to discuss this--perhaps I should have chosen a different issue, since you think it's trivial & Koa thinks it doesn't matter. (religion doesn't matter in regards to your question posed. )

Perhaps I should be neither astounded nor saddened about the electorate's level of knowledge about any issue--but somehow I am--even if I don't know how to solve it.

How do you come up with such talk? I didn't say anything about not "needing to do anything." You asked a question, and I answered it straight up -- No, it doesn't take a well-informed electorate for a workable (representative) democracy. The problem is you get out of it what you put into it. Put a thief into office and you get a thief for a government (not calling anyone in particular or collectively thieves).