Thursday, July 07, 2005

Influentials

According to a study by the Institute for Policy, Democracy, and the Internet, influentials "tell others what to buy, who to work for, and where to go to vacations." But what exactly makes a person an influential?

The answer is not as much as you may think. To be considered an influential you only need to participate in three out of eleven acts in a year, including a public town hall meeting, working for a political party, making a speech, serving on a committee or organization, attending a political protest or rally, writing a letter to the editor and a few other tasks.

To be honest, I think it is a little sad that you really have to do that little to be an influential and to help affect the choices that others make. I think that it just goes to show you again how little average people actually have to do with the democratic process. For GSPM students like myself, I fulfill most of these qualifications numerous times in a year. To me it is second nature to participate in the democratic process, whether it be by attending a political rally, working for my party or going to hear a candidate speak.

However, to many people it is not second nature to do any of these things. I feel that so-called influentials like myself, need to do a better job in getting people involved in these activities.