Election and voting in Egypt and Denmark

In this post, Group 1 is going to take a look at the elections and voting turnout in both Egypt and Denmark. Needless to say, the issues are very different. Let's take a closer look!

In Egypt, the voter turnout is low according to statistics (27% in the last presidential elections, 2005). There are different reasons for this. One main reason could be the general sense of Egyptians that voting is useless and wouldn’t change anything. This is because of vote-rigging, corruption, and the lack of government support to educate people on culture of voting and political participation. Other factors should also be considered, such as the socioeconomic conditions of Egyptians.

Additionally, it seems to be that Egyptian women are more excluded from the political expression because of culture and traditions in some regions of Egypt. According to a recent survey, Egyptian youth are politically disengaged with only 2-3% involved in political activities.

Suggested solutions are political participation awareness raising activities. This could be accomplished through NGOs, students’ unions and workers syndicates to restore the activism spirit among Egyptians. Education reform is also important to cultivate the culture of active citizenship early on.

There is room for improvement, but progress is too slow. More work on grassroots level is necessary. Moreover, the process would take time till the Egyptian voter regain their trust and get over their fear of participation.


Meanwhile, in Denmark, a completely different debate is going on…

The voter turnout is 85-90% in the national elections. The debate lies in youth participation in the political process. The main question posed here is: at what age should the Danish youth be allowed to vote?

In Denmark, a lot of surveys have shown that youth at age 16-17 show great interest in voting and political participation. But they’re not allowed to vote until they turn 18. Why then, shouldn’t they be allowed to vote?

On the other side of the debate, 18 is also the age of maturity in Denmark, and it should remain that way. A lot of 16 year olds are not necessarily mature enough to embrace full responsibility for their own lives. And democratic participation must mean full participation, not only the right to cast your vote and be elected. It would be rather absurd to have a Member of Parliament - or even a minister - who would need his parents’ signature to enact new legislation.

The solution is ritualizing democracy. When you graduate in Denmark, you get a nice cap, a ceremony and a party. Why not make a ritual for first-time voters and celebrating this process? This would encourage youth and it would probably make them reflect more on their votes and illustrate that voting rights shouldn't be taken for granted.

What would you do if your friend converted his/her religion?

Group four:
Second Post (16th April 2010)

Freedom of religion is a right that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any religion.
Freedom of religion is considered a fundamental right in some nations and was mentioned in the universal declaration of human rights in article 18:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
In some countries, the citizens face a difficulty in changing their religion or even in practicing their religion, due to public pressure exerted by adherents of the majority religion. This has occurred through both official action such as arrests and imprisonment and unofficial action such as failing to prevent or punish private acts of violence targeting voluntary religious converts. The universal right to choose one’s religious affiliation creates an obligation for all governments to investigate and punish non-governmental acts of violence or discrimination that interfere with the freedom to choose one’s religion.

When we first posed such a question, the direct quick answer that will jump to our minds would be “why should I even care?".
But that's not true; we care and pay much attention to such controversial issues.
Every one of us keeps saying all the time that he believes in the freedom of thinking and the freedom of believing in specific religion, but when it comes to practical experiments it seems that those beliefs are fake and not true.
We asked that difficult question to some of our friends and the answers were not all the same.

Here are the opinions of some of our friends regarding this issue when they were asked about their reaction if their friend converted his/her religion:

Most people were much interested on the topic and believed that the freedom of religion is a personal and depended on individual beliefs. They said they would talk it over with their friend about his/her new beliefs and most importantly about WHY he/she took such a major change. (60%)

Second group were people who stood on the border line not knowing what to say. They said it depended whether this person changed in character or behavior or not. They were shocked from the idea and tried to digest first before taking any decisions. (20%)

Third group were people who stood on firm conclusion and were not willing to negotiate. They simply refused the whole matter. If a person converts then this means that he/she would change in nature and that can’t be a friend any more. (15%)

Last but not least were people who only wanted the conversion to be in to the Islamic religion and that would make them very happy and accepting. For them it was a matter of religious belief rather than a hypothetical question related to an idea or a possibility. (5%)

The question still remains and every person is entitled to his/her opinion but does that give us the right to be judgmental. Do we fully let go of our prejudices to have a tolerant society? Do we believe in live and let live? Or more importantly can we do that in the first place?