Complete 6 page APA formatted essay: Book Review: Just How Stupid Are We.Download file to see previous pages... Shenkman clearly points out that Americans are ill prepared to guide their countries dem

Complete 6 page APA formatted essay: Book Review: Just How Stupid Are We.

Shenkman clearly points out that Americans are ill prepared to guide their countries democracy which as a matter of fact is regarded as the most powerful one. In his book, just How Stupid Are we?: Facing The Truth About The American Voter, Shenkman argues out that only two fifths of the voters can be able to name the branches of the federal government and he further adds that only 49% of the are not aware that the president does not have the powers to suspend the constitution. The September 11, 2011 attack and the Iraq war that followed are what prompted Shenkman to ask himself serious questions about the American voters. After these occurrences, Shenkman points out that most of the Americans were not aware of what was going on and those who knew something about it couldn’t even point out the facts about the events. He further points out that the White House message machine was to blame put he puts further blame on the Americans who did nothing or very little to seek the truth. He also cites from the scientific polls taken after the 9/11 polls that stated that Americans can’t simply comprehend the twists and turns that complicated debates take (Shenkman 2). The mistaken belief that American people are capable of functioning in a democratic society is strongly contested by Shenkman in his book Just How Stupid Are we? Facing the Truth About The American Voter. In the book, he points out that majority of the Americans had different ideas about the country’s invasion to Iraq and that only a third of the Americans understood that the world opposed their invasion. The fact that the 9/11 commission released a report stating that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, yet a majority of the Americans still believed that weapons of mass destruction had been deployed and were being used in Iraq, posed a very big question according to Shenkman. Did the Americans really have confidence in their democracy? If they did, weren’t they supposed to believe in what the government says? And were they not supposed to have keen interest in what their country was doing? Shenkman seemed to be deeply disturbed by the fact that the Americans seemed to care less about the issues that they ought to be holding close to their hearts and he sought to motivate the Americans to change the situation (Shenkman 3). In my view, the American public seems to be disengaged in public policy issues because they have given up on their countries leadership and they therefore see no reason to take part in national politics. They are simply fed up with the politicians and the current party political system. They argue out that they choose most leaders while having a lot of faith in them only for them to disappoint them once in office. They therefore prefer to stay out of it rather than be disappointed later. The constant rise in the members of parliament expenses and salaries does not help issues either. The American public is left grumbling and dissatisfied with them and with the perception that they have corrupt and greedy leaders who are not worthy of their support. The result of all this is that people shy away from voting and taking part in any political activities as they should be participating. I strongly believe that the millennium generation will make appositive and progressive change in the democratic society.