Is there any actual way to affect what happens with our government?

Question

I know the obvious answer - voting.
But say most of the population disagrees with the war - why wouldn't we have a say? It is our country.
Say that most of the population disagree with how their taxes are spent - shouldn't they have a say? It is our country.

The government is supposed to represent us. Why wouldn't the public's opinions count?

PLEASE do not make this a conservative/liberal debate. That's not what I'm looking for.

Answer 1

Yes. Join a lobby. For example, if you want to affect foreign policy and support Israel, join American Enterprise Institute. If you like guns, join NRA. If you are a "progressive" you need to move to another country!

EDIT:

To guys commenting below me:

Sorry, but you are naive, wishful thinkers. I live in Washington DC. I know how government works. Most people are single-issue voters, and most politicians figure out a way to talk about those issues without doing anything about it. What gets done is what lobbies want.

The problem is not the government or even lobbies. The problem are the American people who either don't vote or vote for the wrong reason. Most remain politically ignorant and can be easily influenced. The net affect of this is that the politician with the most money wins. Most money comes from lobbies.

Grassroots movements rarely succeed. It's because Americans cry out for change but when it comes to 'real' change, they get scared and back off. All that a special interest group has to do is to take an extreme position. Because the majority goes with the middle-of-the-road positions, special interest groups end up getting what they wanted in the first place. People like Ralph Nader and Ron Paul, who could bring about real change, will never be elected.

I sound pessimistic but that's just the way things are...

Answer 2

Its hard to effect meaningful change, I agree.
You have to get the politicians attention.
Lobbyists have it.
Large contributors have it.
Big business, big oil have it.
The military-industrial complex has it.

John Q Public is left out of the influence mix............
The only way I know to effect meaningful change is a grass-roots effort, UNITING WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE, to raise the awareness on any given issue.

Door to door, e-mail, letters, signatures, media converage, sit-ins, peaceful protests- uniting for a cause breaks the will of the power brokers - but its a committment that the public rarely makes anymore.

When the american people unite for any one cause and stick together, they win every time. So far there hasn't been any organized , united efforts on key issues like the Iraq war, war profiteering, global warming, the 30 trillion dollar debt (counting social security and medicare) that soon will cause a financial collapse.

Where's the outrage?????????

Answer 3

Voting is the main way we control those in government. You can email, write, call your elected officials any time you want, to tell them what you want and why. They actually do listen. You may not always persuade them.
You can be a volunteer or employee of your elected official and have your say that way.