Arguemt Essay

This document argues that public opinion is essential to a functioning democracy for three key reasons: 1) Freedom of expression and the press are enshrined in the US Constitution to allow for the sharing of diverse views, even if incorrect, to inform the public. 2) Historical examples show how shifts in public opinion, such as on gay marriage and healthcare for 9/11 responders, have led to changes in laws and policies. 3) Countries like North Korea and pre-Tiananmen Square China that suppress freedom of expression face negative outcomes, while greater freedoms in China have been positive. Public opinion is needed for governments to serve the people and avoid revolt.

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Arguemt Essay

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Argument essay : Randall Vincent

Views expressed by shows, radios, or even people talking on the street should be taken seriously
and are important to a democracy. There opinion may be wrong in the sense that they dont have
the correct information about the subject of their talking point but however they need to be
expressive, right or wrong in order for a democracy to truly successful.
In fact, opinions are so important to a democracy, that they even included freedom of press in
the first amendment. Yes the amendment that protects are right to speak; that is important too.
Freedom of press guarantees the rights to gather publish and distribute ideas and opinions.
Thomas Jefferson stated The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the
very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we
should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I
should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should
receive those papers and be capable of reading them. Yes, he stated that he would rather
have no government with only newspapers; rather than a government with no
newspapers. This again shows how important it is to express opinions in a democracy.
Here is another quote from are current president And as Ive said elsewhere, a free press
helps make a nation stronger and more successful, and it makes us leaders more effective
because it demands greater accountability. This quote also shows the importants of a
freedom of press to run a democracy.
Now lets look at example of opinions of common day people changing something in
government. First lets look at public opinion on gay marriage. In the 90s when the defense
of marriage act was passed, in a poll taken by fox news 70 percent of people believed that

marriage was between a man and a woman. Now in a poll taken today by wall street
journal nearly 60 percent state that gay marriage should be allowed. That over whelming
majority led to the Supreme Court ruling that gay marriage is constitutional. That shows
evidence that public opinion is important.
Now to another example lets move to Jon Stewart. When Jon Stewart stated that he had
given up when no bill was passed for 911 first responders, the public opinion on that matter
grew so much that congress elected to pass a bill giving health care to the first responders.
And let me put emphasis on the fact that support for the bill had no movement at all; and it
was not till Jon Stewart said something about the bill that it picked up serious movement to
be passed. This itself shows how much importance that there is on opinions. If it were not
for opinions then people who risked their life for others would have had no health
insurance.
Lets move on to another example of public opinion and its importance. However this time
we are going to show a time where there were no public opinions and its negative outcome.
Lets look at North Korea. In Nk there is heavy censorship and you can be beaten or jailed
just for saying something bad about the government or the leader. They are also raised to
think things that are not true creating a faulty opinion that is entirely government made.
Lets move onto a quote by john Adams A popular Government without popular
information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or
perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their
own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. By John Adams
quote we can only but presume that unless nk changes the way it works then there will be a fall
for the country.

The next negative example is that of the Chinese government. It takes place in 1989 in
Tiananmen square. Where college students were revolting for what just so happens to be freedom
of press and freedom of speech; in china these were not basic rights given to the people. Now the
government took this as a sign of a revolution and forcibly killed either a few hundred or a few
thousand. This was very wrong by the Chinese government and they were hit with some
sanctions for a time. And this all could have been avoided if the government simply granted
rights .Now moving on to today all history of this event has been erased in china. And the people
who lived then can not talk about it . But the Chinese government seems to be on the right track
as each year more and more common rights are given to the Chinese people.
Now moving on to my final example is that of my grandfathers. He is one who constantly talks
about government and what it should do. His opinions coincide well with his political party;
some on immigration or minimum wage. And it is people like himself, the average joe or the
common man that are government was built for. To be able to express in hopes the government
does something based off the needs of the common man and woman. It is the only way the
government can run without some form of censorship. It is also the only way a government can
run without someday falling due to revolt. That is why public opinions are so important for a
county to succeed.
In conclusion, the public opinion is important even if the opinion has no facts or is wrong. It has
been stated multiple time in our history that the only way for are government to run is with the
limitless opinion of the people. Without it, are country will surly fall or enter a bad period of
time. I end this essay with the hopes that other countries that are heavily censored are freed to
express their opinions and know the truth about world. I also end this with more hope that our