Interview Reflection

Today I had the joy of interviewing my friend Nick about the topics that we have covered in Chapter 1. Usually friends don't spend time discussing the Constitution or popular sovereignty, but I found it interesting to hear what he had to say as a former AP-Government student. I started by asking him what he thought the purpose of government was and how the citizens of the United States should be involved. He was a firm believer of giving the power to the people as much as possible. He constantly reminded that the country is made up of the citizens, and although they elect leaders, they ultimately control the destiny of our country as a whole. Based on that statement, I followed up asking if he would prefer a direct democracy or an indirect democracy which we currently have. i thought our system was fine, but he changed my mind. Sure having the people vote on everything may be a slower process, but oftentimes the politicians we elect do not fulfill their promises and are not trustworthy. "With a direct democracy, people get exactly what they want." I also discovered my friend to be ultra conservative when he said government involvement in society should be very limited and that they should give the people space. I concluded my interview talking about the overall function of government and whether or not compromising is good for politics. Nick said the government is obviously successful because of how long it has survived and the hardships it has outlasted, but believes the strong differences among political parties is not good. But he goes on to say that although you need compromise to get things done in government. However, by doing that, you will never accomplish what you set out to do so it eventually fails. In conclusion, I enjoyed hearing a friend's opinion on these subjects because it offered me insight and allowed me to get to know his political views.