Swope Scholarship Essay

This year’s winner of the Charles E. Swope Scholarship is Yajat Gupta. Students were invited to share their interpretation of this year’s theme: “Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility, and Collaboration.”

Winning School: Downingtown East High School | Intended University: Georgetown University

Democracy and Civics – The Heart of a Beautiful Nation

As a middle-class citizen of the United States, I am fortunate to be provided with substantial freedoms and opportunities that I do not express my gratitude for often enough. I don’t spend my days worrying about being caught in a military crossfire, living on the streets, or how I’m going to get my next meal. I can speak my mind, protest my leaders, and wear what I want. I can go to school to satisfy my intellectual curiosity, improve myself, immerse myself in the community, develop connections, and simply just have fun. Awareness of how blessed I am has been a pivotal contributor in shaping my service-mindset and motivating me to improve the lives of others. Life is valuable, perhaps the most valuable thing out there, so I intend to live it to the fullest and help others do the same.

I often ponder how our beautiful nation became the cornerstone of democracy and a place where immigrants from around the world come in hopes of achieving the “American Dream.” The answer lies in the civics (the rights and duties of citizens), which our founding fathers understood the importance of; they made it a crucial part of our democratic experiment in self-governance.

However, what exactly are these rights and duties that make up civics? As said in John Locke’s Two Treaties of Government, people join a society by agreeing to abide by the rules and decisions of the majority. However, he also insisted that people have the right to dissolve their own governments if their rights to their lives, liberty, and property are infringed upon. Every citizen is given the right to vote, and legal proceedings like Baker vs. Carr ensure that every single person can freely exercise it. Citizens are also given the ability to protest/advocate against their leaders and societal issues. They must pay taxes and obey the law, and those of suitable ages must attend school to receive an education and broaden their horizons. Law and government is more a part of our daily lives than us citizens think. Whether we take public transportation, borrow a book from the library, sign a petition, donate money, or even simply help a neighbor, this is all only possible due to the way our society is set up.

The founding fathers knew that all of these rights, duties, and ways to be involved in society would be pivotal in making America a great nation due to the power of democracy, collaboration, and being informed and involved citizens.

Democracy is about freedom – a government for the people, by the people. The founding fathers knew that it would give each citizen a voice, empowering them to choose their own representatives and make decisions for their self-governance. They also knew that it would lead to peaceful co-existence between nations, and that the United States would become a beacon of hope that many nations around the world would be inspired by and thus follow suit. Quality of life and the happiness of citizens are far greater when they have the political freedoms that democracy provides, and the founding fathers were well aware of this when constructing our society.

The founding fathers also knew the power of collaboration and diversity of thought. The juxtaposition of people with different backgrounds and perspectives can drive innovation and further respect and understanding. They knew it would make citizens kinder to one another and also lead to creative solutions. By understanding others and their perspectives, people diminish the biases they have and accept others as equal humans. The culmination of different views can introduce new methods of thinking or ideas that can improve society. Additionally, relationships formed with other people are one of the most valuable things in life, and our founding fathers wanted to establish a system where we could all be connected and work together.

Finally, the founding fathers knew that implementing civics as an important part of our society would lead to the United States having informed and involved citizens. Almost every citizen of age is involved in the political process due to being able to vote, seeing what’s going on in the news, and engaging in political activism if they so choose.

Democracy and civics truly are the heart of our beautiful nation, a heart that pumps liberty, freedom, and peace due to the impressive foresight of our founding fathers.