Political Participation

African American's faced a plethora of hardships when trying to gain the right to vote. Even after gaining the right to vote many felt as though their opinions wouldn't be heard anyway. This shared feeling of political misalignment led to a steady decrease in voting within Black communities.

Political Knowledge, Public Opinion and the Media

Public Opinion: Views prevalent among the general public.

Political Socialization: The process by which individuals learn and frequently internalize a political lens framing their perceptions of how power is arranged and how the world around them is organized.

The media serves as the main source of political information for many Americans. They base their political alliances off their perceptions of the parties they see either on the news or online. These perceptions are what they later use to vote for representatives.

Social Movements

Protests: A statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something.

Aside from elections the United States has one last way to allow the voices of the people to be heard, protests. The right to demonstrations that enforce a political statement were included and protected in the Bill of Rights. This right somewhat levels the playing field between the citizens and Government as it allows for the voices of the people to be heard and these cries can eventually be put into law.