Working with Your Government
After you have fulfilled your
responsibility of voting, there is always more for a citizen to
do. Some people chose to work with their government in an attempt
to bring about change. In fact, you do not have to even be of
voting age to work with the government for change. In 1991, a
group of North Carolina high school students discovered that
their state legislature had never ratified the twenty-fourth
amendment to the U.S. Constitution which abolished the poll tax.
Even though it passe anyway, these students wanted their state to
make a statement about equality by ratifying it now. These
students, after numerous hours of research, presented their case
to the legislature and, in fact, had the amendment ratified. The
legislature voted to have these students present the official
notice of ratification to the U.S. Archivist themselves. Although
not everyone can have an amendment ratified, your contribution is
still worth wile. A big issue know is the federal government
involvement in Internet regulation. The U.S. Congressional
Internet Caucus can be found at http://www.house.gov/white/internet_caucus/access . First, you must research the issue. A good place
to start would be previous governmental regulation and
information at the Library of Congress at http://lcweb.loc.gov . Further governmental information can be accessed
in a variety of sources listed at http://www.yahoo.com/Government . After the research, next you should contact the
political party most sympathetic to your cause. For the
Republican National Committee, use http://www.rnc.org , or the Democratic National Committee at http://www.democrats.org . If you happen to be interested in international
politics, do not fret, you have places to go too. Within the
United Nations, a variety of subsidiary organizations exist
tailored to your specific interests. If you are interested in
Human Rights such as Free Tibet, try the United Nations High
Commissioner of Rights at http://www.unhcr.ch .
If you are interested in labor rights such as sweat shops, the
International Labor Organization at http://www.ilo.org is perfect for you. If nuclear weapons and energy
float your boat, http://www.iaea.or.at
links you with the International Atomic Energy Association. If
your interest focuses on international law, the International
Court of Justice is located at http://www.icj-cij.org . Finally, if you want to prepare for a career with
the United Nations, try the United Nations Institute for Training
and Research at http://www.unitar.org
. So, if you are interested in national or international issues,
there is someone out their to help and listen.
Links:
U.S. Congressional Internet Caucus: http://www.house.gov/white/internet_caucus/access
Library of Congress: http://lcweb.loc.gov
General Government Listings: http://www.yahoo.com/Government
Republican National Committee: http://www.rnc.org
Democratic National Committee: http://www.democrats.org
United Nations High Commissioner of Rights: http://www.unhcr.ch
International Labor Organization: http://www.ilo.org
International Atomic Energy Association: http://iaea.or.at
International Court of Justice: http://www.icj-cij.org
United Nations Institute for Training and Research: http://www.unitar.org