...THST 1200 Languages of Media Exam 4. In what ways does your assessment of the American Presidential election reflect how you live in a filter bubble, as described by Eli Pariser? Eli Pariser describes a filter bubble as “personal unique info [that] you live in online” (Pariser). The American election reflects how we live in a filter bubble because the way that we perceived the entire election was through the media. Whether it was television, radio, or the internet; the media was used to represent what was happening at all times during the election process. If a person has predominantly democratic views, and has been voting for democrats for much of their lives, most of their online searches will depict democratic interest. When browsing...
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...American Democracy: The Importance of Political Participation “Elites” have a great effect on political socialization and participation in America. There are three factors that affect socialization and political participation that stand taller than the rest. First is the limited growth in worker wages. While the wealthy businessmen continue to get richer and the lower class workers continue to get lower wages, the median of the incomes between the two is rising. (Dye) This allows for the minimum wages of lower class workers to keep decreasing and go unnoticed because statistics look at the median wages for Americans when in actuality, it is a combination of average and median values that give more accuracy in the perception of the state of worker wages. Regretfully, this truth is disregarded as many large businesses display those statistics and continue to mask this growing dilemma in our economy. Second, most electorates are completely oblivious about anything going on that does not directly affect them, and often they still don’t know anything about what is greatly affecting them. Because they are uninformed, they do not know of any problems and thus do not particularly care. This is demonstrated by the fact that many support certain institutions in which they do not support the people who run the institutions. (Dye) This is not necessarily due to elitists, but it does continue to drive a wedge further between the elites and the lower class, which is how the elites would...
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...very few Americans actually understand how it works. The lack of political efficacy in this country is a large reason of why some people do not think the Electoral College should be abolished. However, as Eric Black (2012) stated in an article on PBS News Hour, “Polls for many years have reliably shown that a majority of Americans would prefer a straightforward popular vote for the presidency.” Originally the Electoral College was established to prevent majority factions from having too much power causing mobocracy to occur. However, this system is outdated and the conditions that prompted the founding fathers to institute this precaution no longer exist today. Also, the fact that almost all the states use a winner-take-all system to determine which candidate gets all of the electoral votes for the state. Will abolishing the Electoral College rid the United States from mobocracy? Introduction The Electoral College is outdated and does not follow the true spirit of American Democracy. David Stewart (2013), a lawyer in Washington, D.C., states that, “Because most people knew little about public events or leaders from distant states, the convention delegates reasoned, they would not make a wise choice between presidential candidates.” Today, people have access to information through TV, the internet, and social media. People can travel easily around the country. It is extremely difficult to not get bombarded with political campaign ads and political rants during election season....
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...7020 Class Project Does The Taller Presidential Election Candidate Have an Advantage? A Statistical Analysis of Voting Bias Toward Taller Presidential Election Candidates Jared Causey Online MBA Student E.J. Ourso College of Business Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA Abstract After analyzing each presidential election in United States history, a Texas Tech University researcher concluded that a slight bias toward taller presidential candidates exists among the voting population. His claim was based on the theory that through evolution, humans developed a bias toward taller and stronger leaders due to their ability to provide protection. The researcher purports that this bias still exists. In order to test his theory, I collected data regarding candidate height from every United States presidential election with such information readily available. Of the 53 presidential elections at issue, I found the proportion of elections won by the taller candidate to be slightly above 50 percent, suggesting that there is, in fact, a bias toward the taller candidate. Introduction Research suggests that throughout modern and ancient cultures, selection of leaders with more dominant physical traits is prevalent. However, the collective process that leads a voter to choose one candidate over another in a presidential election can depend on a number of variables. Is it then equally likely for a presidential candidate shorter than his opponent to be elected...
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...States has to face now, is arising more and more. “American society is highly polarized in its perception of the existing election system” (Belenky 2012, ix). This paper has the aim to contrast the arguments against and in favor of the Electoral College and to demonstrate possible alternatives. In the conclusion an answer to the question “Should the Electoral College be reformed?” will be given. 2. How it works The Electoral College, as it is outlined in the 12th Amendment, is a body of electors chosen to elect the President and Vice President of the United States. In Article II of the Constitution the electing procedure is written down. Each state delegates a specific number of electors to the Electoral College, dependent on its representation in Congress (House of Representatives & Senate). According to the fact that each state has two Senators and at least one Representative (dependent on the size of the population in the state), each state has three electors at the minimum (for example Alaska). With 55 electors, California has the largest number at the moment (see illustration 1) (Electoral-vote.com 2013). Figure 1: Blank map of the U.S. with electoral vote Each presidential candidate has his or her own group of electors in every state. Generally the electors are chosen by the respective political party, but there are many differences among the states concerning the selection process of the electors. The election of the President is held...
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...The Election of the American President Helle Birk 1. What must a candidate for the American presidency do before he can be inaugurated? * He or she has to face a lot of personal demands and win both the primaries of his or her party and the presidential election. 2. Which requirements must be fulfilled by a person in order for him/her to become President of the United States? * He/she has to be a natural born citizen. Furthermore they must have been a resident for 14 years and be at least 35 years old. 3. How often must the Presidential elections be held according to the Constitution? * Presidential elections must be held every four years according to the constitution. The President can serve for no more than two terms. 4. How much did the presidential candidates of the 2008 each spent on their campaigns? * According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the presidential candidates nominated for the 2008 election must raise as much as half a billion dollars. 5. What means of fundraising can the candidates rely on? * Today’s candidates depend upon private and to some extent public funds to finance their campaign trails and pay for advertising, media consultants and political advisers, which are all crucial to the outcome of both the primaries and the presidential elections. 6. What happens on Super Tuesday? * On Super Tuesday as many as 24 states have their primaries or caucuses. 7. When and where are the...
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...suffrage - the Electoral College process and its outcome may seem a bit surprising. In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, for example, more Americans voted for Gore, but Bush actually won the presidency because he was awarded the majority of Electoral College votes. It's a political upset that's occurred several times since the first U.S. presidential election; four presidents have been elected by the Electoral College after losing the popular vote. We'll explore briefly the historic start of the process and describe two original aspects of the political controversies surrounding the outcome of the Electoral College system : the winner-take-all method of allocating the state’s electors and faithlessness : the possibility for a member of the Electoral College to be a faithless elector which characterises a member of the Electoral College who for whatever reason does not vote for the presidential candidate for whom he or she had pledged to vote - or does not vote at all. In 1787 a group of leaders of what was a year before the thirteen colonies of Great Britain drafted the Constitution of the United States, they reached the now infamous ThreeFifths Compromise to determine the population of the different states that would then be used to decide the number of seats allocated to each state in the House of the Representative. In the mean time they also estimated that the average American was not erudite enough to choose a president without the bridge of the Electoral College. The assembly...
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...field of religious identities and conceptions, a sea of swirling religious currents. Religions legitimate the existing social system, institutions and values to a certain extent. They also provide a means to contend with and change the system; they are at once conservative and liberal. They motivate people to do things, to change the world in many ways. It might be said that the ultimate purpose and effect of religion is to take humans and their cultures to the “Ultimate”. (Eller, p 330) Owing to the importance of religion in America’s national identity, which is largely shaped by American core cultural values and "mainstream religions", these attitudes and traditions have played an important role in American social life, thus religious power naturally has penetrated into politics and foreign policy decisions more regularly in America than in other countries. Religious values are the sources of American “exceptionalism” and “messianism”. (Xie, p 39) After the Cold War¹, it became evident that religion was a key factor in many conflicts, including Bosnia, Rwanda, and Afghanistan. However, the ¹ “Cold War”: the state of hostility that existed between the Soviet bloc countries and the Western powers from 1945 to 1990. Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford University Press. 16 December 2012. <http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cold war?q=the cold war>. U.S. failed to predict the fall of the Iranian theocrats in 1979. (Patterson...
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...Danielle Williamson English Composition 101 Professor Damiano 10/22/16 2016 marks an important year, for it is when America elects the next president of the United States. There are so many organizations and movements whose main goal is to get people out to vote in this year’s election and I do not support them. I feel as though voting is a waste of time especially in this election, where both candidates are corrupt and unfit. Also, I feel as though the electoral college should be abolished. Voting is a waste of time because it is the electoral college who ultimately chooses the president and not the American people.Many people don’t understand the logistics of the electoral college and just how much they impact the lives of Americans. In...
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...Omar Sharif Should the Electoral College be abolished? The invention and approval of the electoral college by the Constitutional Committee in 1787 resulted in an electoral system whereby the election of the president, every 4 years, is determined by members of the electoral college and not the popular vote. Each state receives a number of electoral college votes (number of state congress members) and this is amended every 10 years to reflect changes in state populations. However, there is a growing movement to abolish and replace the current Presidential electoral system with a more democratic system that more accurately reflects the popular vote. Firstly, to understand why the electoral college became the chosen system, it is important to understand the issues faced by the Constitutional committee. James Madison wrote at the time "There was one difficulty however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. The right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of Negroes. The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to the fewest objections." Therefore, whilst many members acknowledged that a nationwide popular vote would be ideal, state conflict over the rights of slaves, which divided the nation, was the ultimate deciding factor in the choice of electoral system. However, there were other highly influential...
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...Presidential elections occur every 4 years, which allows United States citizens to vote for the next person who they want to run the United States. There are two ways in which United States citizens can vote for a president, either by popular vote, or electoral college vote. The next president of the United States is the candidate who “...wins 270 electoral college votes…”, but most people believe that the next president should be the candidate who wins the popular vote. Presidential elections like the 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 elections shows that candidates are able to become president if they win enough electoral college vote, but they don’t win the popular vote. The current Electoral College vote doesn’t show the true feelings of United...
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...voting of citizens in the United States for their [the people's] preferred delegate. The Founding Fathers of the United States developed a system where for the votes of the people to be counted for at a higher rate. This system is known as the Electoral College. The United States’ electoral college system throughout the years have been seen to work exceptionally well but many perceive the Electoral College to be both unfair and controversial. The Electoral College's role throughout the years of elections was ultimately against the true morals of the election process. To identify the controversial issue brought upon by the...
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...a certain number of electoral votes according to its population. All of which went to candidates who win the states popular vote. Each state is allocated a number of Electors equal to the number of its U.S Senators. It’s always two plus the number of its U.S Representatives. This could vary according to the size of each State’s population as determined in the census. There’s twenty-nine electoral votes in the states of Florida. President Obama won State Electoral votes for 2012 election in Florida. Obama won Florida’s popular vote as well with 4,237,756 votes. Doing research there are some advantages and disadvantages with The Electoral College. The Electoral College protects minority interests. It preserves the voice of the States with lower populations and more rural areas. It promotes two-party system of governance. Some political activists may not be fan of the two-party system, but the Republican Verses Democrats structure creates more stability. The Electoral System allows majority of Americans favors and they may not win. It’s complicated and dissuades people from voting. A popular vote but win the electoral vote is a simple majority, The Electoral College consists of redistributing votes every 10 years. Under The Electoral College, a candidate can lose the popular vote but win The Electoral Vote and become president. This happened three times in 1876, 1888 and 2000. Many people say this is unfair which is why others think there is no point in The Electoral System. Over...
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...they will vin” is taken from the “Rossiskaya Gazeta” and it is written by Alexandr Gasuk. The primary task of published article is to show the process of elections In the USA and the value of people’s opinion in it. The elections of president are very important not only for the USA but also for every country in the world. The government should be a heart of stone for its country and is needs with a good leader for successful ruling. The president is chosen by people but what the value has emigrants or other ethnic groups in the elections? Alexandr Gasuk Focuses his attention on this aspects. The article begins with the author’s description of the U.S. presidential election and the influence of Russian citizens on the outcome of the election commission. Author asks the question himself who will vote the Russian-speaking diaspora. He gives the statistics that the Russian language is 10th most common, and the Russian is 1 percent of population. It seems strange, but the large number of Russians do not affect in their political life. They also do not take part in any political activity, unlike other small nations. The cause of this phenomenon tried to find the author. As the experts say the reason for this passivity is disunity, lack of unity and of the organizational structure of the community. The president of American University in Moscow Edward Lozansky proves it and he also said that only Russian Jewish community can offer a equal prominent political voice. It seems that...
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...college serves as vital tool in the presidential election process. Since the early days of our history, we have had a federalist-republican form of government with the electoral college helping decide the presidency. It was created in the early days of the constitutional convention of 1787, so as to limit uneducated voters power in the election,and to leave the vote into the hands of informed people, and still remains part of our system today. The electoral college functions as so, if a presidential candidate wins the majority of the population in one state, then the state and it’s electoral votes go to that candidate, after a certain threshold of 270 electoral votes has been reached, that person becomes the president, most of...
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