To vote or not to vote: is it really a question? Are students adequately informed about politics? Questions abound as adults worry about whether students will vote for political opinions or whether they will simply agree with Bruce Springsteen about the weather. Astin states that “A democracy works only to the extent that the voter is well informed” (Astin 97). Astin believes that the only way to have a properly functioning democracy is to have informed voters. This is the question of the day: why do people vote, because they have real political opinions or for the sole purpose of agreeing with someone else. For the most part, students who want to learn about political opinions are fully aware of what is happening in their lives. government, where apathetic students know nothing and don't care to know anything. One of Astin's ideas is to impose a government course on college students, making them learn and then allowing them to vote as informed citizens. I have a problem with this, I don't want to have another course to take in college since I already have to wade through the standard crap like history. The idea is good, but the placement is wrong since in most Texas high schools students take a government class. The only problem is that many students take these courses without learning much. During my freshman year of high school I took AP Government, a semester-long course. My school offered both AP and regular government, I chose to go the extra mile and take a college course, a horrible idea. While taking this class I quickly realized that it was a futile attempt and that I should give up, so the afternoon after the first class I tried to move to the easier class, but it didn't happen. I ended up getting a 37 in the course, needless to say I had the opportunity to try the course again my senior year. To avoid making the same mistake twice, I opted for the standard government course, taught by the football coach. Needless to say, this class was slightly less difficult and with the knowledge I had gained from the little attention I had paid in AP I was able to pass through the class with an A. This is simply to show the extreme difference between the classes and to show people how simple standard government classes are. I'm not suggesting that people make government lessons as difficult as mine... middle of paper... reason why America fell just because you decided to vote without knowing the facts. And after all it's not that difficult to learn, anyone can turn on the TV and inform themselves, even if "this particular medium is not doing an acceptable job" something is better than nothing (97). Maybe some of these people could even go the extra mile and look up some facts in the paper, I mean my class was considered the most apathetic class to ever graduate my high school, we didn't do any pranks, skits and only about two people they wrote on their caps at the graduation ceremony, even if some idiot had the idea to write a few sentences of apathy, we were entirely too indifferent to make such a big effort, and I took the time to find what I needed to know to make my own free will decision. The point I am trying to make is that people must know what they want in our government and vote for that, they must leave all the nonsense behind and vote on the issues, and then our democracy will be at its best. point.Works CitedAstin, Alexander. “The cause of citizenship”. Experiment with ideas. South Lake, Texas: Fountainhead P, 2004. 95-103.