Identify an issue you feel strongly about. Explain how you might affect political change using the ...

An ideal response will:
1. Identify an issue that the student feels strongly about, such as education, student loans, abortion, the death penalty, taxes, or the environment.
2. Discuss which pathways of action would be appropriate and/or effective in trying to affect political change. The election pathway might be effective if candidates take clear positions on issues. A voter can support the candidate who shares a position on abortion, for example. The lobbying pathway might not be as useful, at least in the traditional sense (college students are unlikely to lobby and they would not likely hire a lobbyist themselves). However, a student could call or write their member of Congress about issues. And, it is possible to join a group that lobbies for that organization. The court pathway is unlikely to be utilized directly by a college student. However, many people join groups like the NRA or the Sierra Club that use litigation to achieve their objectives. The grassroots mobilization pathway might be useful for a college student. Many students were active in the civil rights movement in the 1960s; more recently, the Occupy Wall Street movement allowed many people to participate in the political process.