by Wayne Carter

Created on: January 02, 2009

Historical impediments has produce a dramatic decline in African-American involvement in politics; however, recent trends evaluating the political behavior of young African-Americans age 18 29 illustrate that this subgroup, in name, is mobilizing itself to become political forerunners in U.S. culture. Traditionally, most would agree that the societal environment perturbs African-Americans and determines and undermines their status, and, by extension, access to the political system. The last two components vise a negative statistical relationship and causes political certitude and efficaciousness to decline. One article, "A Ladder of Citizen Participation" by noted Sherry Arnstein (1969) points out, "[t]here is a critical difference between going through the empty ritual of participation and having real power needed to affect the outcome of the process (pp. 2). Within the article, the author analogues a ladder in which levels, or rungs, represent levels of participation, access, and impediments possible with some of these levels. In spite of these complications, according the CIRCLE, which is The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement:

African-American youth are the most politically engaged racial/ethnic group. Compared to other groups, African-Americans are the most likely to vote regularly, belong to groups involved with politics, donate money to candidates and parties, display buttons or signs, and contact the media. (Marcelo, Lopez, & Kirby, 2007)

The framers of our constitution as Dahl (1977) explains provided for a representative republic with a government that would rest on popular consent and ensure preservation of certain basic rights to life, liberty, and property (pp. 4). He goes on to imply that this original constitution is not democratic and makes for inequalities. Through another lens, this analysis focuses on how interpretation of this very document has evolved the political system into a democratic oneat least in theory. The current political system has just as many problems as were classically present.

All of these issues were ultimately proliferated by the larger social environment within which we all live. In the next section, there is need to explain in some detail, because the social environment addresses identical social positions and social roles as a whole that influence particular groups; and, it influences other factors in our equation such as attitude, political trust, and political behavior.

Social

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>