Political communication

“To convince citizens that they should pay attention to politics and that it is worth their time and energy to become informed about political discussions, to vote, to volunteer their time for campaign activity, and perhaps even to submit their own names as candidates for office, we need to persuade them that their participation genuinely matters and that they can make a difference."Thomas A. Hollohan
Political communication can be a hot bed at many different levels. Whether it be at the interpersonal level, the public or community level or the political level, talking about politics often can lead to a heated discussion that many times spins out of control. So how are we as a free society to treat this issue? Obviously each area in which politics is discussed we need different guidelines and helping hints. For one way of communicating cannot be used for all areas.
Perhaps the area that many people struggle with the most on a day to day basis is how to effectively communicate political views with one another or in small groups. It seems that in families the most heated debates take place. I propose that in order to improve these interpersonal political discussions we as citizens of this country need to become more informed politically. We should all encourage one another to read up on major political issues in order to be better informed when we come together to discuss issues. Also to become more aware of arguments that has no merit. To not accept evidence that is not backed by credible resources. I feel that the one of the only ways to really improve our communication on an interpersonal basis is to learn how to effectively search for the facts. We should learn to search out credible sources of information instead of just checking those sources that reaffirm what we already believe.
Another way of improving interpersonal communication in regard to politics is the practicing of empathizing with the opposing view. By doing this I mean people should practice paraphrasing. By this I mean repeating or summarizing without caustic tones back to the other person what they said to insure that they heard correctly. People should be encouraged to use paraphrasing before they counter the other view in order that both parties can make sure that what was said was said correctly and decoded by the other party correctly so they can further understand the first person. I first practiced this concept in my conflict class. At first I found it absurd but after time I saw that it made me choose my words more carefully and try to communicate more civilly because they also were trying to do the same with me. using this method people are in a way being slightly forced to be civil with one another and learn that they are talking to a person with feelings not just an opposing view that is wrong.
The next area of political communication that can be improved is public communication. “Another opportunity for direct political involvement is through participation in interest groups and citizen action committees.” (Hollihan) So often our citizens feel that they are left out of the game that only every four years they get a say on what goes on in their local or federal government. The biggest change that can be made is to let the people know that their voices really matter. So how as a country are we going to accomplish this? The first thing I propose that we do is to hold more town hall meetings, however in a different way. The biggest downfall of our town hall meetings is that people get too riled up and often nothing ever really gets done except a screaming match. There needs to be a group of people whose job is to run town hall meetings every day of the week. The local elected government should choose them and be accountable to them or meet with these officials once a week so that they can relay the major concerns of the people back to their elected officials. The meetings themselves should be held five days a week. Each day or every other day the meeting will listen to or go over arguments written out by the people about the concerns they have over this particular issue. The board that would run these meeting should post what they were going to discuss that week a week in advance. The arguments or concerns need to be written in advance. Then they officials can read those concerns and separate the issues from the heated emotions. Then they can go to the meeting the next day and address those issues face to face with the individual who wrote them. I believe that this revised version of town hall meetings could really make a difference in how people view their government. There should be members of both major parties on this board who are known as skilled communicators and not prone to rash reactions. Giving the people more access to their government is essential to keeping this democratic system alive.
On major issues that are going on in the senate or congress I think those representatives should also be have access to these forums to get a feel for how their constituents want them to vote or act. These congressmen need to show that they are doing their best to listen to what the people say to them and not what fills up their wallet.
On a personal note I feel that one way to drastically improve public political communication is to make laws about using obstinacies. I know we are entitled to free speech however these words are not being used to help our society. They only hurt the young people of this society. If we cannot effectively use our language to cry out for what we want what good would “F” this guy or “F” this policy do? As a citizen we want our voices to be heard right? Well we only take away our credibility and cause more heated language to fly through the air. Nothing gets accomplished when using these words. As an educated society we really should encourage one another to use the language we have in better ways. Public communication is essential to politics so why not teach our younger generations that we are as advanced as we are because of the words we choose not the curses we yell out in the streets. Yes it should be illegal to say some of these words. People would be forced to use their brains to communicate their view in a more appropriate and effective way. I know that I am more willing to listen to a calm well constructed argument than an argument that is filled with personal attacks and curse words.
Education is the key to political, public communication. A measure that will most certainly improve our public communication is taking classes in college that teach us how to interact with one another civilly when we have different opinions. It should be a mandatory class that every college student takes. Learning how to separate out the issues, and the arguments from the fallacies and emotions will propel this society into a new era of political communication. I believe that more will be accomplished by implementing this tool into our education system. Students are the future of this society and if they learn how to disagree with grace and dignity but also share their views respectfully than our society will be more successful. Teaching students how to argue effectively will help all of us in the long run. People could not be swayed so easily by the tv or what they hear but learn to look deeper and access information themselves. If anything in this society will help us to show the world that democracy is the best form of government, than we need to teach our young how to use this system to the best of their ability by teaching them how to communicate in the right way. Education can accomplish this. Taking classes in civility and political communication has helped me immensely and I can now empathize with the other view much easier now than I ever could without taking those calluses. This is the way to go in public political communication.
The last arena that could use change in our society is political arena. Our government does an ok job at this but I believe that they can do better. How can this happen? Well I think we need to ask our government officials to be more present in the lives of the citizens they work for. They need to all give more speeches publish their views on different bills and work closely with local governments in order to win the hearts of the people. Perhaps what our government needs to do more than the students is to takes classes as well in civility and political communication. To be honest I believe that my previous arguments if implemented will naturally bring about a change in the way our government conducts its political communication. They only way to improve political communication in politics is if we the citizens of this country demand it and implement it. Otherwise we will go in this mudslinging arena and never fully reach our full potential. By learning how to communicate and becoming more active in our system of government we as a society can cause wonderful things to happen. And perhaps not demonize each other in the process. So often our candidates are so focused on the mudslinging that they lose sight of why they are there if the first place. They just want to get enough voters to see the other side as evil and make themselves look like a better alternative to that evil. “Candidates today realize that they do not need to make an attempt to convince all voters or even most voters to support their election or to endorse their policies. They only need a sufficient number of voters to secure more votes than their opponents, and they can achieve this goal by both urging people to vote for them and discouraging them from voting their opponents.” (Thomas A. Hollihan) We so often think of the opposing view as wrong or evil but by learning and involvement and even paraphrasing one another we can not only learn about the opposing views but learn about those people who we share this country with. Learning to be civil and educated is the answer to political communication. That is the only way our society will ever be able to move forward in the future.