The Power of The Vote - Essay Example

The Power of The Vote As a voter in a democratic system, the power to elect the people who will make decisions regarding the law is in the hands of the voter. These leaders who represent the citizens and make decisions about many issues will affect everyone in everyday life. A voter plays the most important role in a democracy. However in today’s elections, media plays a major role and the election ads have the capabilities to misguide the citizens. It is therefore essential that the people’s representative should always be elected with caution.

It is also essential to know about the private activities and past misdeeds of the person standing for an election. The people who are elected have a tremendous impact on our daily lives. These are our representatives, and they enact thousands of statutes that affect us. They determine how to spend tax and how the tax burden will be shared, and they define state policy in thousands of problems and issues (Oregon State Bar, 2005). Leadership refers to an exceptionally wide range of roles that have great influence.

A leader needs to have the qualities and the ability to protect the nation at all times and hence it is essential that they have strong ethics and values. The leader has to impress as a role model in ethical values, intellectual caliber, professional expertise and solid achievements if he/she is to stir up the ready and willing cooperation of others. As a leader he is duty bound to fix responsibility and take corrective measures, but this he should do in a constructive and positive spirit, without leaving a trail of bitterness and acrimony.

In any case, he should regard genuine and honest errors of judgment as the inevitable price of learning and growth, and not as something to be condemned or punished. Leaders come with various temperaments and traits. They may be all types: Aggressive, gruff, reserved, blustery, bluff, forthcoming, formal and so on. Not all leaders are made for all kinds of situations and enterprises, since their capabilities are not identical. A war leader, like Winston Churchill, may be a misfit in peacetime.

For a politician or bureaucrat at the helm, the manifold layers of action extend to the outermost reaches of his domain. He has to be a visionary and his leadership has to pass a three-fold test: Those working for and with him should have no problem synchronizing their vision with his and being aligned to his sense of purpose and dedication; since the activities of the government touch the lives of the people every moment, the delivery of various services should be prompt, efficient and adequate; and he should be good at bringing multidisciplinary groups into a mutually reinforcing and tightly knit team (Raghavan, 32-37).

Finally, I would like to say that we as voters have the responsibility to elect a leader. It is essential that we have to look into the background of the person whom we have to elect and it is our sole responsibilities to elect good leaders who think positive and good ethical values. Media need to play an unbiased role during elections by projecting the truth. Good leaders are an asset to the nations. References Oregon State Bar, Who Represents Your Interests in Government? 31 December 2005, Raghavan, B.S., Leadership in Government.

Praxis, Business Line, June 2002. pp 32-37. 31 December 2005,