Doug's+Page

My name is Doug Johnson, a senior political science major at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Democracy's Foundation media type="file" key="DougsTIBdemocracy.mp3" width="240" height="20"  I Believe in Democracy. Democracy comes from the Greek //demos//, the people, and //kratos//, rule. I have always idealized the concept of the people ruling, first as an elementary school student learning about the principles on which America was founded and the men who made it happen. In my teenage years, I enjoyed the idea of freedom and not being controlled by anyone. But democracy is more than a political system that allows me to do whatever I want, a successful democracy is dependent on the people taking responsibility in all facets of life and actively participating in the community.

 This belief stems back to my days as a cocky, know-it-all high school student, sure that I knew better than everyone else, especially my parents and teachers. I had great test scores and mediocre grades, which I thought was quite clearly the school’s fault. I used to cut class for no particular reason and stay home and watch the history channel or C-Span thinking that it was a better use of my time, convinced I was learning more that way.

Eventually all of my misbehavior caught up with me and my parents discovered the true nature of my activities. I would tell them, “we never do anything at school,” or “I’m not learning anything, at least when I stay home I learn something relevant.”. I turned in enough of my work and got good grades on the assignments I bothered to finish, I didn’t see why it was necessary for me to be there everyday, listening to a boring lesson and doing nonsensical busy work.

 When I began my college career, I soon realized the error in my reasoning. In February of my freshman year, I had an 8 am comparative politics class. One day there was a class activity that required students to act as a member of an assigned political party and form a mock parliamentary government. The last thing I wanted to do was some stupid in class exercise, I just wanted to half- consciously take notes and go home. But when extra credit was on the line and everyone had to participate anyway, I decided it was worth waking up for. The activity made me realize that by actually being involved, I had a much better understanding of the motivations of parliamentary players and interacting with my fellow students gave me the perspective to offer better analysis in my own papers.

 True democracy is dependent on participation and contributions from all members of a society, even those who think they won't benefit from it. Interaction and participation with fellow citizens guarantees that perspectives will be broadened and more complete ideas will be formed. Democracy affords citizens extraordinary opportunities to participate and shape the society in which they live. But without a determination to try and make something positive out of whatever situation presents itself, democracy falters. I believe in democracy, therefore, I believe in my responsibility to contribute to my community.