Cheyanne Riley

Pols 1100
MWF 11 a.m.
Political Awareness
At the beginning of the semester in my U.S
government and politics class, all the students were
asked to participate in a survey to test out our awareness
in politics and important political issues. Once the results
were added up, I was somewhat shocked at the results.
The average age of our class came out to be 19.5 years
old. That means that we are all old enough to vote, and
therefore we should all have a better understanding of
how our government works in order to be able to make
well educated decisions when it comes to voting. Some of
the most shocking results were that only 31% of the class
knew who one of Utahs four members were in the House
of Representatives, and that only 24% of the class could
name the governor of Utah. As citizens with the right to

vote, I feel like we should exercise that right and take the
time to educate ourselves on important things like this.
After reviewing the results of this survey, I would
conclude that the majority of my U.S government and
politics class are liberals. A huge fraction of the class
labeled themselves as a liberal on the survey, but even if
I was just examining the answers given on certain current
political issues, I would still gather that most of the class
is liberal. The one issue that had the biggest difference in
percentage as to who answered yes and no was the issue
of the right to bear arms. The vote was overwhelmingly in
favor of citizens having the right to keep and bear arms.
Another issue that the students obviously felt quite
strongly about was the topic of same sex marriage. The
liberal standpoint was definitely strongly expressed on
this topic as well. It is interesting to see the answers
compared as a whole class, and I also found it interesting

to see how most of my answers fit in with what majority

of my classmates answered. I found this survey to be an
eye opener as to the variety of opinions that are all
around me. It is important to take others opinions into
consideration when arguing politics. I also think that
education is key in a successful country.