Jillian's Reflection  

 

 

Prior to Project Citizen, I had not realized the degree of influence American citizens could have over policy making. I had the impression that only government officials made decisions about laws, and that no matter how much an individual or group protested, they would not have much power to initiate change. However, after exercising my own political voice, I realized this perception was incorrect. Through activities such as starting petitions or drafting bills, average citizens with a common goal can join together and lobby their local government officials for change, as our group has done. This project has also taught me the importance of education regarding the law making process. While researching, I was surprised to find how few NJ citizens actually know the state’s abortion laws. I myself hardly knew any of the laws before my research, and most of our survey participants didn’t know much about them either. I even called a local Planned Parenthood to interview the owner, and she told me she didn’t know enough about the laws to answer my questions! As our group learned, voters can’t possibly make informed decisions regarding policy makers without background knowledge of the current laws. Project Citizen has taught our entire team so much, and even if our idea never becomes an actual law, we’ve learned so many crucial skills and life lessons along the way.