FENG0134 Formulating Arguments (Cause and Effect)
young people are not consuming political news regularly regardless of the proliferation of social media platforms and online resources. "Through developing habits of consuming political news, therefore, citizens develop greater political interest, knowledge, sophistication and efficacy, and also conceptions of citizenship which emphasise political participation" (https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30532/) Without consistent consumption, it naturally follows that interest, knowledge and participation decline.
In a self-fulfilling prophecy, citizens who do not care about who is placed in power, or who do hot even display any acts of civil resistance or interest in the democratic processes, will suffer under the misdirection of leaders who do not care about their people. At its most extreme, this lack of political interest can result in a dictator who terminates the democracy of a nation (Union of International Associations, 2020, Nature section). \( \qquad \)
Political apathy, caused by disillusionment and lack of knowledge, is a subtly dangerous condition. When people believe it is not worth caring about their country's politics, dangerous leaders can arise to wrest power from them, and potentially abolish the democratic processes that keep a nation afloat. How we prevent this, as clichéd as it may sound, is to be brave enough to be optimistic. Commented [DC6]: 6. How do we get from misdirection to complete dictatorship? Explain the process. [2m]
Commented [DC5]: 5. Topic sentence for this paragraph is missing. Write a suitable topic sentence. \( [2 \mathrm{~m}] \)
Commented [DC4]: 4. Inaccurate citation. Rewrite the citation to fit APA 7th edition guidelines. [1m] is missing. Write a suitable topic sentence. [2m]
As Guillermo del Toro (2019) wrote: "optimism is our instinct to inhale while suffocating. Our need to Commented [DC7]: 7. Explain how optimism can help prevent political apathy. [3m] and vital. [...] Inhale or die".