To vote or not to vote, is that really a question? Are students well informed in political matters? The question abounds as adults worry whether students will vote for political views or simply agree with Bruce Springsteen. Astin says that “a democracy only works 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 people vote, for actual political opinions or for the sole purpose of agreeing with someone else. For the most part, students who want to learn about political views are fully aware of what is happening in their country. government, where apathetic students know nothing and don't care to know anything. One of Astin's ideas is to impose a government class on 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 class to take in college since I already have to go through the standard crap like history. The idea is good, but the placement is wrong since in most Texas high schools, students have a government class. The only problem is that many students take these courses without learning much. My junior year in high school, I took AP Government, a one-semester 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 I was in this class, I quickly realized that it was a futile attempt and that I should just give up, so the afternoon after the first class, I tried to move on to the easier class , and that didn't happen. In the end I got a thirty-seven in the class, so needless to say I had the opportunity to try the course again in my final year. Not being one to make the same mistake twice, I opted for the standard government course, taught by the football coach. Needless to say, this course was slightly less difficult and with the knowledge I had gained from the little attention I had paid in AP, I was able to get through the course with an A. It's simply to show the extreme difference between the courses and to show people how simple standard government classes are. I'm not suggesting that people make government courses as difficult as my... middle of paper ... reason America fell just because you decided to vote without knowing the facts. And after all, it's not that hard to learn, anyone can turn on the television and get information, even if "this particular medium isn't doing an acceptable job", something is better than nothing(97 ). Maybe some of these people could even go the extra mile and look up facts in the newspaper. I mean, my class was considered the most apathetic class to ever graduate from my high school, we didn't have a prank, or a skit, and only about two people wrote on their little hats at graduation , even if some idiot came up with the idea of ​​writing a sentence of apathy, we were entirely too indifferent to put in that much effort, and I took the time to find out what I needed to know to make my decision regarding my own free will. The point I'm trying to make is that people need to know what they want in our government and vote for it, they need to leave all the nonsense behind and vote on the issues, and then our, 2004. 95-103.