The Republicans and the Democrats get most of the attention because they have been around for a long time and they are supported by millions of people and millions of dollars in the United States. Does that make them any more likely to be more effective to hold leadership positions in the United States government? This is but one of the questions for critical thinkers to consider as they work to decide who to support in the November election.
Many voters in elections tend to focus on the individual candidate, which is not always the best strategy for choosing an elective office-holder. Candidates not only represent themselves; rather, they represent the parties that support them as candidates, and those parties more often than not have very different ideas about how government should work and what its priorities should be. Although it is certainly important to get a sense of what candidate appears to be a stronger leader or has better ideas, keep in mind that they do not work by themselves to get the country’s business done. Critical thinkers do their research on what the candidate’s party represents and what policies they do and do not support.
Critical thinkers are sceptical about all the information that is presented to them by virtually any source. This is not to be taken in a negative sense; it just means that practicing critical thinkers do not take information, particularly information put out by governmental agencies, at face value.
Although government is based upon the premise that it is in existence to protect citizens from hostile forces and to serve by offering a wide variety of services, critical thinkers are well aware that people that make up government often have their own agendas that directly contradict the mission of protecting and serving the populace. Politicians usually desire to remain in office, and for that reason, often they may say or do things not because they are true, but because it is what they think the public wants to hear.
