For my 16 week classes - though the 8 week classes will have to answer this soon enough.
In 150 words - at least:
In early lectures we mentioned that an educated and informed electorate was necessary to provide stability to a republic. But being informed takes time. That's especially true - as we've discussed - in a democratic system that separates powers and is federal to boot. Being a truly informed voter requires being aware of the large variety of positions up for a vote and the large number of candidates for them.
In some cases, though not all, there are shortcuts available in order to make a decision - party identification for example. These don't make you fully informed, but they can give you enough information to make decisions efficiently and still live your life.
I want you to weigh in on this issue. Assuming that being an informed voter in a democracy is a personal responsibility - how much time and effort should people - should you - spend getting informed? Is it acceptable to use shortcuts like party identification in order to make a decision? If you do this, can you really call yourself informed?
You can take this in different directions, but address how much time and effort one should spend becoming informed in a democracy. Is becoming informed a personal responsibility? How do we know if we have met that responsibility?
