The United States is a representative democracy its citizens elect delegates to act for them but that is not necessarily the end of citizen participation Within democracies citi Zens may speak out on policy development and government action Lack of knowledge about public problem policies government decisions or politics domes not normally keep people from acting in this way but they can participate more effectively by improving their understanding of the issues During political campaigns candidates for public office state their positions on the issues through speeches and advertisements-and increasingly through social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook in hopes of persuading voters to support them Voters who study public policy are better equipped to understand the candidates policy ideas and to evaluate them-that is to determine what impacts they are likely to have and whether they are desirable if elections are to turn on informed assessments of the issues rather than how good the candidate looks on camera policy knowledge of this kind is essential