First-time voters share what they really know about the government
Election Education
DELMARVA – Elections can be confusing for a first-time voter, especially if you think you don’t know as much as you should. Local college students in the area were open and vulnerable to give their view of how they believe the government functions.
Government Breakdown
Whether we’re discussing the Senate, the House of Representatives, or even the role of the Governor, college students say when it comes to the election, they need a bit more education.
Professor Emeritus of History and Political Science at Delaware State University, Dr. Sam Hoff says it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and the government can be broken down in a very simple way. “Think about three branches, three levels. In other words, an old-fashioned tic-tac-toe board. With one area being the legislature, another one the executive, and another one the judicial. But we have to think in terms of three levels as well, federal government, states, and local government,” Dr. Hoff said.
Two Chambers
The United States Congress is made up of two chambers: the House and the Senate. Dr. Hoff explains that when it comes to individual States, that’s the responsibility of the Governor. “The role of Congress is to legislate. To pass bills. And in doing so, the House and Senate have equal powers on certain things, the Senate has some separate powers… Most US governors in our 50 states serve four years, a couple serve two years. But the role of the governor is to execute the laws that are passed by the state legislature… And so, the governor essentially is that middle area in the nine quadrants, the president above, and local executives below, people like mayors,” Dr. Hoff said.
Student Perspective
Salisbury University students gave a brief overlook of how they believe government works. “The government, I feel like they decide between the different laws and send it up to the governor… and the Governor, I feel like they make the laws for the State, I guess,” said Kylee Connors, a freshman. Senior Hannah Morton had a bit more knowledge. “I know that there’s several different branches in the government and they each have their own roles…I would say maybe like for the state.”
Freshman Joaquin Wright tried his best. “The government helps regulate the county pretty much… The governor has control over the city, to help with maintaining the city. Health wise, money wise.” His friend, Dontae Smith, also a freshman, even became a bit discouraged when asked things he didn’t know. “The governor, he or she is in control of, you know, some sort of economic behavior… Like I said, I haven’t heard these questions in a really long time.”
Expanding Education
Unfortunately, some of the students have said they aren’t voting this election because they don’t feel they are properly educated and explain who they feel the responsibility lies with. Hannah looks inward, “Ultimately, I think it would probably be myself. Because it’s not like there haven’t been any chances for me to learn about it through schooling.”
“I believe it the school system honestly, we wasn’t taught stuff about the government maybe we had like a little brief course on it, back in High School, but to really go in depth about it, we wasn’t taught that in school,”Joquain said. Kylee agrees, saying “I feel like especially being in college, there should be courses even in High School, we should be taught this kind of stuff, especially like our senior year of High School when we’re going into voting.”
Dontae says he wishes someone could have helped him a long time ago. “Now that I’m actually here thinking about it, I really wish they did talk about this a lot more, because the only government class I took was in High School.” Dr. Hoff believes there should be mandatory college courses that teach the basics so that way every single voter can be educated. If you have any questions about the United States government, visit the linked website and get the information you need to make educated voting decisions.
