Ryan Marin
South Bureau Chief
With the 2020 election soon approaching, now is the time for students to get involved and informed.
When voting, it is essential that people are informed about the candidates and vote for a candidate that aligns with their views.
Sadly, young people in America are often uninformed about the political process and where they lean politically.
Club Vice President Juliette Estrada wanted to change this and help Broward College students get informed, saying “I feel like a lot of people don’t know the difference between a liberal, conservative, authoritarian, libertarian, etc. So, our goal was to help people figure out where they stand.”
The Political Science Club set up an event on campus to provide an unbiased setting where students could take a political quiz and find out where they lean politically.
While the club used Advocates for Self-Government’s “The World’s Smallest Political Quiz,” students from the club also created a PowerPoint that explained the questions on the political quiz in more detail and gave attendees the pros and cons of each issue, as well as real-world examples
None of these issues are simple, but the students did an incredible job of breaking them down and making them easier to understand.
Some of the issues discussed were free trade, corporate welfare and privatizing benefits such as social security.
While the club tried to maintain an unbiased stance, Estrada admits it was not easy to achieve.
“It was hard, as I do lean one side. I was trying to be unbiased, but I was not sure if people could tell (my political leanings).”
Feguens Douze, president of the club, believed it helped him see issues from another perspective, saying “I was putting on the shoes of the other side. What is it like to be pro-something, what is it like to be con-something?”
Members of the club were surprised at the turnout and enthusiasm around the event, such as Douze who commented:
“The participation surprised me. A lot of students showed up and were interested to learn.”
The club has a multitude of events coming up, such as an event in February where a member from the Broward County elections office is coming to South Campus to discuss the upcoming Democratic primary on March 17.
Douze says the club plans to keep putting on events to inform students about the upcoming 2020 election.
“Some people just vote on what (a candidate) offers and looks like. You have to go deeper into their legislative history and figure out how are these laws going to affect you.”
marir34@mail.broward.edu
Photo courtesy of Professor Kari Hebert.