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No matter what you feel about Trump. I think too many people are wanting/waiting for him to fail. But he's the President, and no matter your views, you should be rooting for him to do good for the sake of our country

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I agree with Grayson

I think with Trump winning, it is an indication that the U.S. population is tired of these career-politicians, and they wanted change from that. So they elected a major outsider

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I agree with Sydney, democracy is the best chance to make everyone be equals, but it indeed needs change in order to represent the entire nation as a whole, because groups of people definitely get underrepresented.

I don't believe there needs to be a requirement to have prior experience in politics in order to become President. That only separates people more, and allows only the high up people, who are essentially controlled by large groups to run. And just takes away the idea that everyone is equal, and should have equal opportunity.

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Equality is always going to a difficult problem to solve. When you look at the people who are elected into any of our nations government jobs of course you see the lack of racial diversity but also education. The people we elect always seem to have the same degrees or took very similar tracks in their lives. You'll see a lawyer, businessman, another businessman. De Grasse Tyson said it best when he said "where are the scientist? the engineers? Wheres the rest of life?". We have these preconceived notions on what kind of people are best suited to lead, and you have to ask yourself if these degrees have any real correlation to who is best suited to lead. You also have to take into consideration how well they consumed the knowledge they get from higher education. Equality stems further than race and social status and this seems to be a point often ignored when discussing equality in our government. And then this leads you to ask yourself, can true governmental equality ever be reached? With all the diversity in our world does anyone every fell truly represented by those they elect?

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Equality is relevant to who wrote the constitution. Equality did not apply to women or slaves or immigrants. White male land owners were the ones who really had equality.
The wealthy held power. These individuals were commonly white and male. They influenced government and had a lot of power over it because of their social status.
Knowledge IS power, however one requires a certain amount of experience to have power. For example our current president, Trump, exceeds in business experience, but he has little when it comes to political. This lack in political knowledge could lead to a poor presidency. This doesn't only apply to the presidency though. A leader in any government, business, or club needs knowledge and experience or you suffer the consequences.

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I think Chloe has a good point...no one is every going to be completely equal, there's always going to be different genders or have a different ethnicity, however democracy is a way of evening out everyone's differences and allowing people to have the chance to have their voice heard without characteristics getting in the way.

I feel like a wealthy, white, man has a difficult time representing all people. Historically, they were the only people who could vote and I think what's important to voting and making a decision is one's ability to relate to issues and personal problems and be able to see both sides of a conflict, and most of the time the best voters are the less fortunate or underdogs who have a real voice and are trying to change their lives through their political freedom.

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I think politics is influenced by money but I think that our leaders have been chosen mainly based on who are  career politicians. People like President Trump are not known politicians so people automatically look down on them and assume they cannot lead a country.

I agree knowledge is important but I also believe experience creates knowledge so experience would be above knowledge for me.

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Equality is important because like in dinner with the democracy , if everyone is equal it can impact their decision makings and make it easier to share their views.
I also think knowledge is important. I agree with Grayson that you learn as you go and grow your knowledge. I also agree with Emily that knowledge is important but if you don't have equality then you are leaving people behind and not including everyone which can cause issues. Experiences comes with learning as you go.

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I agree with Autumn and Melanie , because if like for example if a Senior doesn't make varsity team, they could make the argument I should make the varsity team because I have more experience then say a Sophomore on the varsity.

I guess what I am trying to say is just because you have more experience than someone doesn't mean you are the best person for the job.

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I also put equality as my number one because in a democracy everyone is on a equal level, and I believe that's really important.

I agree with Autumn that knowledge is really important because without knowledge on a given subject then it's hard to have a accurate opinion. Although, I do also agree that someone must have the right resources in order to gain knowledge to speak on a subject.

I agree with Emily because equality is super important in the way that we must treat others all the same way in order to have a successful conversation and make civil agreements.

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I feel it is important to have equality in a situation like Dinner with democracy so that when there is a discussion everyone is on the same playing field. If everyone is equal it makes sharing easier because no one is talking down to each other and creates a productive discussion rather than an argument.

Chloe's point about democracy is very well put because not everyone is the same but they are equal. Diversity is a very key part of democracy because it allows for a wide range of ideas and viewpoints.

In my opinion today's representation  should try and be more like the group that participated in the dinner because there were people from all walks of life that had their own ideas but also shared those ideas with other people similar to themselves. If the group would have been all the same type of people, the discussions would have been a lot less collaborative.

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Equality was a huge part of the reading in that the members of the Dinner with Democracy  all agreed that they were not all equals outside of their meetings, but when they were there having discussions everyone was an equal part of the discussion and everyone's ideas and opinions were valued. This made their discussions a true reflection of democracy, so equality was clearly one of the most vital aspects of democracy.

I think that in the case of South Africa, a leader with only an 8th grade education would ever have a chance to become a president in the United States.

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I agree with Autumn because the people really are influenced by democracy and we do subconsciously change our opinion and views based on whose in charge and what is put out for us.
We would need a diverse group to represent everyone rather than just rich white men trying to represent everyone including those they just relate to.
I agree with Grayson about knowledge, it's not all about knowing everything, experience is necessary too. You gain the most knowledge through experience.
Going along with what Emily said, new people in democracy mean new view points, and with time and history changing and growing, we need that.

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Politicians of our country should be in the system for the ability to make good decisions under pressure for the people that elected them.

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I think it is important and each citizens´ duty to come to discussions and politics on their own behalf and with their own minds open, leaving ulterior motives from representing a group behind. It is, in my opinion, the obligations of representing a group that makes it hard for large populations to compromise and keep everyone's interests in mind. Though it is difficult for each person to have a say in a whole nation´s decisions

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Duty can mean being a representative for others, not being an individual.
I agree with Sydney, the corruption of politics can largely get in the way and effect the decisions of constituents.
Being a representative of the people, it is important to balance personal and the majority's' opinions.

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Duty is making decisions on behalf of others for the greater good of all.
Historically the framers chose to make their duty that of protecting the rights of the people, however Katie is right in saying the beginnings of their duty came from a corrupt place.
Diversity is what makes democracy great, "Creating a will in the community independent of the majority that is, of the society itself" (Federalist 51, pg.3).
Dinner with Democracy "Is choice freedom?" pg.15

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It's hard for decisions to be made now because the supporters of the elected officials are helping make decisions for them which is clouding their own educated decisions.

I agree with Sydney because the elected officials want to be reelected so they try to please the people but also are trying to make their own decisions.

If the politicians tried to do what happened with dinner with democracy their would be arguments that would come up but it would also be a new opportunity to try dialogue with different opinions.

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Politicians should make choices that represent the general people of their area.
I don't think a lot of experience is necessary to be a successful politician or leader. Some of our best presidents have been younger. Younger leaders are often more in sync with the youth, who are the future of the country.

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Duty is what someone is supposed to do and what their job is and what your responsible for.

Making decisions now is hard because your thinking of the better good of the entire country and not only yourself or people and just trying to barely please the people isn't enough sometimes.

If you are uneducated in the political government and what you are supposed to be doing in that position then in can negatively effect the people. It's like having a math teacher trying to teach a problem and they don't know what they are doing either so they just guess along the way. It is also better to have experience so that people can come to a compromise and not just fight over things because our country wants peace and not just war.

Sometimes it's better to listen and learn because no one in the world knows everything and not everyone will have the perfect solution so learning different views and opinions can help influence the better solution.

I believe that in a real world situation even if people believe just talking it out will not work it's better to at least give it a chance before things get serious like war and fighting.

Chase has a very good point because everyone is different and no one will have the exact same opinion as another we all have something that will vary which can make decision making hard at some points.

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It is the duty (number 3 on my list) of those representing the people to preserve their rights and bring their voice  forward. It is not limited to the people you represent, but rather should be for the benefit of every citizen.

Decision making nowadays is a bit more difficult because there are so much diversity among people and their thoughts and opinions. On the contrary, these diverse opinions are what bring meaning to a democracy, and make it a stronger principle of our country's constitution.

I put experience as number 2 on my list because experience is what gives someone the ability to represent people and uphold their demands in the best ways. If a representative or leader has little or no experience, he or she will not understand the people as well as someone who knows how to fulfill the people's wishes.

If politicians with different views were to meet like in the text, there would be more argument than solution or actual conversation. Their personal opinions will overpower the opinions of those they represent, and make the meeting more a personal meeting rather than an effective one that would aim at bringing forth several different views.

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Duty: A persons obligation or job to help or have others succeed

We want to be heard and to be able to make decisions for ourselves but having the higher powers giving influence in the final or actual decision making would be best. We can have them look at it from other angles and understandings, along with new ideas we as citizens might not think of due to not having full understanding or knowledge.

Rachel makes a good point when she explained how political officers are elected with certain view points, however if those views change while in office more times than not if not every time conflicts will arise within the public.

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It's harder to make effective changes now as an elected official because many politicians run on a promise for their constituencies, rather than looking at running for a position that can benefit a wider population

I think what Quinn said was really good. Politicians are only down to come together when there's a problem that needs an immediate solution, instead of meeting more often to discuss the problem itself.

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Making a decision is a lot harder today because there are so many opinions from so many people, that it can be hard to impress everyone.

Having a wide rage of different experiences from different people can bring different solutions to problems, thinking about a wider range of people that have separate opinions.

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I do not believe that a discussion like this would be able to occur again, if a dinner or discussion like in the text was held, there would be too much arguing and conflict. The only reason that the dinner with democracy was able to work out the way it did is because no one was asked to make any decisions. Not having to make any decisions, not having to side with others opinions, is what made everyone open to the democratic process, creating equality between everyone despite there political views.

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I think this all ties back to how our original founding fathers were only pushing for equality of basically cis white males who owned property and how it wasn't and still is not the most basic form of true democracy as well all think it might be.
Going off on the fact that Sydney was talking about how the people at the dinner were all working together, not towards a common political goal, but in trying to answer the question of what democracy is, I believe it works better because in the political sphere, their decisions are affecting a very wide variety of people, while they are trying to push their own personal agenda.