Are you popular enough for SGA? The Student Government Association has been a tradition in many schools for several decades. Their objective is to involve the student body in community and school related functions. Their electoral process claims to be democratic. But is it more of a popularity contest?

Candidates who run for SGA will be faced with many tough decisions and must be able to organize events, such as pep rallies and dances such as homecoming and sweetheart. The process in which the officers are chosen appears to be democratic, but in reality, the process is an oligarchy, a form of government in which the power rest in the hand of small elite force which is the sponsors. The election for SGA is actually very simple. The student body votes for their candidates. Unfortunately, most students do not know who is qualified to take the role of an officer. So Instead they only vote for the people they seem to know and like. Then the council chooses the positions for the candidates without allowing them to plea their cases on front of the student body or the principal. This could all be changed if candidates discussed their intentions and had debates between other candidates in front of the student body. According to most Edgewater students, SGA should really be more focused on finding solutions for student issues such as the shortage of textbooks, discipline, and the funky sewage smell in the hallways.

According to previous members people with more experience were not accepted into the committee for the next year class because of the lack of votes. There were a couple of members with three or more years of experience that were not accepted, they were frustrated because less experience, noninvolved candidates got in the committee.

The SGA council just chooses whoever receives the most votes without any regards to who is qualified for the positions. The faculty can get the process reviewing the candidate’s academic history, their conduct, their violation of school laws, and their involvement in the community. The council should also consider ethnic makeup of the association in order to make sure every ethnicity group is represented in the committee. To make it fair to everyone, the highest position should go to the candidates with the most community involvement, best conduct, and best academic history.