Citizen direct influence on the government is an essential component of democracy. This influence can take different forms and can be channeled through different routes (e.g., public opinion, voting, political parties, interest groups). Which of these routes would you say provide the best opportunities for citizens to influence the government in the United States? Why?

Instructions:

Your postings should be well written and clearly address the issues being discussed. Each writing assignment must:

1) be 250-300 words long;

2) addresses directly the question posed by the instructor and provide a clear answer;

3) provide factual examples and/or referred theoretical arguments that support your argument; these examples and arguments may be drawn from either the assigned readings (excluding the handbooks), the assigned audiovisual material, or footnoted sources researched independently by the student;

4) provide appropriate source citations (plagiarized threads will be penalized).

Please use one of the sources below as an reference:

• Baum, Matthew A., and Philip BK Potter. “Media, public opinion, and foreign policy in the age of social media.” The Journal of Politics2 (2019): 747-756.
• Eugene Kiely and Lori Robertson, “How to Spot Fake News”. Factcheck.org, November 18, 2016.
• The NPR Politcs Podcast: “How Campaigns Work: Fundraising”; September 24, 2020
• Kuo, Didi. 2019. “Challenges to parties in the United States and beyond.” Jun 20, 2019. Vox.