The Importance Of Civic Participation In Arizona

All during my middle to late teenage years I was involved in the politics of our city. My hometown was small, so there were many opportunities for youth to participate in events. From attending city council meetings that were held twice a month, I learned how I could actually become involved in the legislation process. By getting involved, I, along with some other members of the town, were able to pass a local ordinance, and I was also involved in the process of passing Utah Senate Bill 60, which became a law in March of 2015. Getting involved in the law making process taught me not just about the actual process of passing a law, but also about how normal citizens can and should take part of the legislative process. It also contributed to my desire to continue working with government and the

When I was in elementary, I was taught that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, and he was painted as a great explorer. It was not until my sophomore year of high school when I took Chicano Studies from Los Angeles City College, that I realised that the picture I had was not complete. The Chicano Studies class opened my eyes to see how sugar coated the history I learned growing up. Learning how marginalized group’s story is not told, made me want to get involved with those who do not have a voice. I had been involved in our local community clinic at the encouragement of my parents, but it was not until I took the class that I realized how important the work really was. Recently my immigration Health Care committee teamed up with other

The United States is home to over 53 million Hispanic citizens who comprise nearly 17 percent of the entire population. Despite this, Hispanic public administrators only hold 34 out of 435 Congressional seats and 4 out of 100 Senate seats. However, Hispanic leaders are making inroads into the United States political system and paving the way to represent their peers on local and national levels. In conjunction with public supporters and community groups, these professionals are inspiring the next generation of Hispanic leaders and making significant progress on administrative and political fronts.

As the Latino population in the United States continues to increase, civic engagement is important in attaining political visibility and influence in every level of government. Initiating participation in local government is important in order to improve social ties and relationships among community members. On a city level, Latinos can practice civic engagement by attending city council meetings and participating in volunteering or community events. Through community building, Latinos can organize and work together in achieving common goals.

The topic of social justice was not always a passion of mine to pursue in life. Growing up in a small town it was always difficult to see the gaps in our society. It was not until I started working for a Christian nonprofit that helped change my philosophies. For the past three years, I have been working as a missionary with Destino; a Christian nonprofit that focuses on raising up a generation of Latino college students to go out and change the world wherever God has called them. Since moving out of my small town and into an urban environment I have been able to witness firsthand the struggles Latino college students face. The worries they face as an undocumented student paying their way through college because they do not qualify for financial aid. The problems within Latino culture and the importance of providing for their family rather than receiving a college degree. The difficulties of fighting racism as a minority student attending a majority culture university. These are only a handful of struggles my students face everyday living in Denver. Although working with Destino, I have learned the importance of being culturally aware and to continue fighting on to be a voice to others who are unable to

Growing up in an immigrant community exposed me to the issues and mindsets of people I will be tasked with engaging. I know firsthand how sunny day flooding affects a mother’s commute from work to her child’s school, the determination of young activists who want to tackle economic and environmental issues simultaneously, and the excitement of engaged voters discovering new ways get involved. My experiences alongside these communities will help me find the most relevant issues and craft the right campaigns to elevate Chispa, LCV, and activists who have yet to find an amplifier for their voice.

However, the youth is neither disengaged from education nor disinterested. Rather, many educators and leaders fail to see the promise and potential of these young adults because there is a cultural disconnect. Through this study, the factors that influence academic success are drawn from interviews with former Latino high school graduates and dropouts. The aim of this study is to improve the education experience for Latino students in Lawrence,

Our demography size has been a reason why politics has shifted to finally pay attention to us Latinos, but as Professor Suro recently said, “This political season that destiny can take detours.” Our size and growth have been a reason why political parties now hire Hispanic coordinators and Latino outreach to engage our ethnicity into part taking in the civic engagement process of the United States. Many reasons can explain this for example, the incorporation into U.S society a similar experience that was shared with African Americans, a second explanation is the usage of manipulation through political machines in the southwest which were very different from those of the European immigrants in the east coast as these lasted for many more generation, and third a relatively slow emergence of a civic infrastructure among Latinos that were more organized based on nationality than this whole pan-Latino union. Today, we as a majority now share a set

For the past three years I have been learning about industry and underserved communities; the political framework of organizations; and cultural differences between Latinos and Americans. The purpose of this is to create social change at the systemic level to transform communities.

Regarding the Stanford Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement survey, I have mixed feelings. Although I agree with my results and have minimal difficulty in making sense of my results, I feel that the information is not in-depth enough to truly be extremely helpful.

American civic participation has changed in the 20th century. The first way civic participation has changed is social liberation. Since the 1960s or so, exclusions on the basis of race and gender have been breached. In the past, women and ethnic minorities were not allowed to join organizations as members, so they joined partner organizations. However, some organizations were unable to cope with change after the Civil Rights Movement happened and ideals changed and lost membership. Another change is the decline in American patriotism. Skocpol writes, “Patriotism, brotherhood, and sacrifice were values celebrated by all fraternal groups, and military service was touted as the surest

America is a democracy which encourages its citizens to participate in government. When I researched what participation was defined as a series of definitions were found ranging from basic to complex. At its most basic form, participation means to take part in something. As Americans, we can make a huge difference in our local government by exercising our rights and participating in the democratic process. According to our text (Dye & MacManus, 2015), America encourages citizen participation in government as voters, community activist, neighborhood association and interest group members, party workers, and candidates for public office.

As a lower class immigrant who attended a high school that is poorly funded with very little diversity, I found myself in a position where I desperately wanted to act upon the issues that came up.

In my time as a student I have rarely seen latinos in positions of power. Much less in student council, where I was the only latina up until last year. Imagine the surprise that came to me when I found out I had been chosen to be the head of homecoming. At first, panic set in. What if I didn’t do a good job? What if homecoming failed due to my failing as a leader? If homecoming failed, I would I give into the stereotype of an incompetent mexican? All these questions loomed in my head. Eventually, I realized this was my chance to prove myself, and prove that others of my race could do just as good a job as my caucasian counterparts.

Civic engagement refers to the ways in which citizens participate in the life of a community in order to improve conditions for others or to help shape the community’s future. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.