The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Rise in student political activity in the U.S.: Consul

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Thursday, Aug 28, 2008
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Rise in student political activity in the U.S.: Consul

Staff Reporter

U.S. official interacts with students at Technopark

Consul for Press and Information Affairs Wesley W. Robertson

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over the past few years, there has been an upswing in the involvement of youth in the 18 to 25 age group in political activities in the United States, particularly during presidential elections, Consul for Press and Information Affairs at the Consulate General of the United States in Chennai Wesley W. Robertson has said.

He was discussing student involvement in politics in the U.S. with the students of the MBA programme at the Asian School of Business at Technopark here on Wednesday.

It may be that youth were not entirely happy with policies at various levels and had decided to participate in the political process to try to bring about some changes, he said.

The Consul pointed out that there was no stigma associated with political activity in the U.S. Involvement in political campaigns tended to give a person some sort of legitimacy as it proved that he or she was interested in the affairs of the community. In the past, many people had felt that their votes did not matter.

But the 2000 presidential elections changed all that. The election was so closely contested that people started feeling that if they had voted, it might have changed things.

‘No violence’

Even though students group politically in universities across the U.S., there was no violence associated with such politics.

Elections on college campuses never ended up becoming a battle between the Republicans and the Democrats. In reply to a question, Mr. Robertson said he would give seven marks out of 10 to the U.S. electoral system for its efficiency. For transparency, it would get nine marks out of ten, he said adding that there was no such thing as a perfect system.

Mr. Robertson chose not to answer a question on the position taken by presidential candidate Barack Obama on illegal immigrants in the United States.

Election process

Prior to the interaction, the Consul gave a brief presentation on the U.S. presidential election process beginning with the setting up of exploratory committees by presidential hopefuls, the primaries of the Democrats and the Republicans and finally the election proper.

It was very important for people to be involved in democracy, no matter what the electoral system was. Peaceful transfer of power was a good measure of how democracy worked in a country, the Consul added.

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