...States of America are full of pride when it comes to the world seeing them as a strong, democratic nation. Although, according to Merriam Webster, a democracy is defined as “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections” (Merriam Webster). A democracy is not strong, however, when a low...
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...States is known for having lower voter turnout than other countries. The struggle has caused the need for change. What is the importance of voters, you may ask? The importance of voters is better public welfare and the political voice of the government. It will be reflected in better electoral elections and a better sense of community for the nation. The need for a better nation is the foundation of America, so it's important we uphold it for the people. To tackle higher voter turnout, a plan needs to be made. It will need to address education, accessibility, community, and motivation. One viable solution is to introduce compulsory voting to increase voter participation rates. Compulsory voting has had a positive impact on other...
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...the last few decades has been an issue for quite some time now, leading to the question of whether or not democracy in America is working as effectively as it could be. This is a more serious issue than most realize, especially considering only about half of eligible voters have been participating in presidential elections and much less participation in lower level elections. The average citizen living today lives in a completely different world from what this country was since its birth; the average citizen today has many more personal and financial responsibilities to tend to, and consequently, many fail to fulfill their civic duty of political participation. This combination of a hectic lifestyle, lack of concern, or sometimes even distrust towards the government and political news leads to people not being able to make time, not interested in making time, or simply refusing to make time for political participation. There are numerous ways in which citizens can participate politically, each with varying degrees of difficulty and potential strength of messages conveyed. Voting and financial contributions to causes and campaigns are the two least sophisticated and most common forms of political participation. Since all votes are equal and voters vote for a candidate due to a number of reasons instead of one, the amount of information conveyed is relatively low compared to more active and sophisticated methods of political participation. (Losco and Baker 156) Forms of political...
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...In the United States, voter apathy has been a consistent theme. Many eligible Americans fail to participate in elections. Between 1960 and 2008, the average voter turnout was approximately 49% to 63%. This means that close to half of the Americans do not really care which candidate will become their resident. In the United States, the lowest voter turnout was recorded in the year 1996 when only 49.1% of eligible Americans turned to vote. The low turnout in the country is an international disgrace. It is worrying that democracy in America has lost meaning. According to Fulton (16), one may not understand what happened to the government that Abraham Lincoln used to call “government of the people, for the people and by the people.” People should not be satisfied when...
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...America, irrespective of the fact that it has the best democracy in the world, voting in elections is bedeviled by low turnout of voters, which could be attributed to institutional policy inefficiencies. These factors include among other things and not limited to voters registration requirement, which makes voting a two-step process. In most states, citizens who may wish to vote must obtain and fill out a paper application. It is evident that a significant number of people do not fulfill this first step which invariably prevents them from voting. Secondly, the Tuesday voting day also contributed immensely to low turnout of voters because many go to work since no holiday is declared and is not on a weekend. Voluntary Voting, being a condition where voting is not made compulsory, leaving people to decide whether to vote or not is a plague contributing to low turnout. Many Democratic Nations report good turnout of voters because they made voting compulsory in which a failure could be termed as disobedience to state law and could result in some level of punishment or denial of certain benefits. Felon disenfranchisement, a situation in which our citizens in correctional facilities are not allowed to vote also affects voters’ turnout. It is on record that America is the only democratic nation in the world that does not allow Felons to vote. In order to increase voter turnout, voting should be made compulsory, voters registration made automatic, days of election made public holidays...
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...do not vote. Great voter turnout is normally reflected to be desirable, though among political scientists and economists studying in public choice, the issue is still argued. It usually presumed that low turnout is a reflection of dissatisfaction, an election with very little voters may not be an exact reflection of the will of the people. On the contrary, if low turnout is a reflection of satisfaction of voters about possible winners, then low turnout is as valid as great turnout. Supporter turnout is the fraction of qualified voters who cast a vote in an election. Precisely who is qualified differs by nation, and should not be confused with the whole adult population. Extraordinary turnout is normally perceived as signs of the legitimacy of the modern system. In past decades dictators have often made-up high turnouts in platform elections for this reason. For example, Donald Trump 2016 election survey was claimed to have had 100%...
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...Dior Hunter Bailey-Hofmann English 103 17 January 2015 Should Voting Be Mandatory? In the United States, voter turnout during elections has decreased over the last fifteen years. In 2012 the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) compared voter turnout rates, for the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, The BPC states “Despite an increase of over eight million citizens in the eligible population, turnout declined from 131 million voters in 2008 to an estimated 126 million voters in 2012 when all ballots are tallied. Some 93 million eligible citizens did not vote.” Many Americans feel like their vote doesn’t count anyway, mainly citizens who are already disadvantaged. Australian professor of Politics Lisa Hill states in her article What We’ve Seen in Australia With Mandatory Voting that, “Places with mandatory voting also have less wealth inequality, lower levels of political corruption and higher levels of satisfaction with the way democracy is working than voluntary systems.” Critics say that implementing mandatory voting is against the constitution, and what we value the most, freedom. Furthermore, Hill states “ Is being required to vote a violation of autonomy? Sure, but so is mandatory taxation, jury duty and the requirement to educate our children. Yet, these are all good ideas.” Voting should be mandatory because as American citizens we live in a democratic society where everyone should have an opinion. Although, Americans value independence and the free-will to do...
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...States Voter Turn-out so Low Question 4) What are some explanations for why voter turnout is so low in the U.S. compared to other wealthy, literate and democratic countries? INTRODUCTION Voter turnout is the rate by which people vote in elections. The simplest way to calculate a given election's turnout rate is to compare the actual number of voters with the voting-age population. “Voter turnout in the United States is among the worlds’ lowest.” (E.S. 371) The graph below taken from an article written for the Huffington Post in 2012, illustrates how poor United States voter turnout has been as compared to other industrialized nations. Our voter turnout is less than half of the turnout in Belgium and Australia for example and it is getting worse. "Starting in the early 60's, the proportion of the population that turns out to vote in the U.S. steadily decreased, to the point where only slightly more than half the electorate voted in presidential elections in the last three decades of the 20th century" (E.S. 370) [pic] Although there are several factors that contribute to low voter turnout in the United States, three factors appear to have the most direct influence. • Voter Registration and Voting Processes in the United States make it more difficult to vote as compared to other nations. • The Decline of Social Capital in the United States • The decline in the strength of our political parties has contributed to voter apathy Voter Registration...
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...The 2015 elections saw very low voter turnouts, a trend that is as American as a Baconator from Wendy’s. Voter apathy though, is a huge threat to democracy. Historically, college-aged eligible voters have a low turnout. There are many reasons for this. One reason is that people forget about filling out absentee ballots. Another reason is that people of this age group are so overwhelmed with classes and internships, that civic duties take a backseat. The most popular reason by far, is the myth that our votes do not matter. I can understand why people think that, with all of the political buffoonery thrown our way. However, we cannot be jaded. We must cherish our voting privileges. Voting is a right that in this country alone, women, people...
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...Voter turnout for the 2014 midterm election was the lowest since World War II in 1942. Only 36.4% of eligible voters casted their votes this election (DelReal). Voter participation has been a problem the early twentieth century. America won the revolution and broke its ties with Britain’s monarchical ways for very specific reasons. Reasons clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence (Jefferson 259-267). The American people wanted a government that protected their rights and gave them the ability to select someone who represented them best to lead them. The ability to vote on our representatives and add or changes laws is what America started for. Low voter turnout is preventing any sort of change in our government system. Voter turnout can be split into two problems- attitude and accessibility. Voting is a key part in the democratic system and it is important to address and attempt to reform the system to benefit the citizens of the United States. When the Constitution was ratified in 1787, the voting policies and presidential regulations were set. According to section two of Article two of the Constitution, in order to be a president her or she must be over 35, a natural born U.S. citizen, and must have lived in the United States for at least fourteen years ("The Constitution of the United States " 85). If the president meets the requirements, he or she is allowed to run for office. The first thing a candidate usually does is develop a political action committee to help...
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...the term turnout used in the extract. Turnout represents the number of registered voters who cast a ballot at a given election usually expressed as a percentage. In this extract turnout refers to non-electoral political participation. Traditionally, the political participation of the UK’s citizens is measured by turnout to general elections. For example, in 2005 turnout to the general election was just 60%. This was seen to be a participation crisis by some. This extract would argue that casting a ballot is only part of a person’s political participation. It shows that 62% of people had given money to an organization in the previous 12 months. Also, 50% of people had signed a petition. This suggests individuals choose their involvement in politics in their own way and generalizing that if general election turnout is low, political participation is low is incorrect. This is supported by the POWER report in 2006 that suggested there is not a political participation crisis as there is still involvement on a local level. This suggests that political participation should not just be judged on turnout for general elections but also other acts of political participation. Using your own knowledge as well as the extract, consider why some commentators have spoken of a ‘participation crisis’ in recent years. In recent general elections, declining levels of turnout have led some to believe Britain is having a participation crisis. Meaning, political participation is so low it threatens...
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...voting and politics in general. Assuming that low turnout is a reflection of disenchantment or indifference low turnouts can lead to unequal representation among various parts of the population. During presidential elections what really counts is the Electoral College. I know where I live the winner of the Presidential election is announced before the polls...
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...Both “America” and “We Can Be” used a combination of happy music, bright and familiar images and footage, and large visual text all with the goal of making viewers feel joyful and to associate Sanders with unity and positive change. Their fundamental message as Professor Freedman would describe, is proximity. The ads aim to convey that Sanders character, values, and aspirations are all similar to those of the American people. Ultimately, these two ads aim to convince the viewer to vote for Sanders. But which of these two types of ads is more effective in convincing viewers to vote? Many of our assigned readings talk about the effects of positive verses negative ads. The articles focus on the potential effects of negative ads on voter turnout, but none focus on the potential effects of positive ads on voter turnout. As discussed above, both “America” and “We Can Be” are positive ads, but their production techniques and content are very different. The differences that exist between these positive political ads leads me to wonder which type of positive ad is more effective in convincing participants to vote for Sanders? My...
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...It is no secret that America has a voting problem. According to Pew Research, only 55.7% of voting-aged citizens cast votes in the 2016 election. Voting turnout in the United States has been on the decline since the 1960s and mobilization efforts have been in place since the 1990s, yet turnout still persists as a problem. The most appropriate way to combat this problem is simple; make voting mandatory. The definition of a democracy is a system of government by the whole population, typically through elected officials. How can we be considered a democracy then if the whole population is not being involved in the election process? The other glaring problem is that the failure to vote is highly concentrated among certain groups, namely, the poor, the unemployed, the young, new citizens, and the homeless. Without their vote in the elections, the whole opinion of the public is not complete....
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...fifteenth amendment was passed granting suffrage to men of color. Fifty years later the nineteenth amendment was passed granting suffrage to women, and another fifty years after that the twenty sixth amendment gave eighteen year olds right to vote. All of these amendments were steps toward ending discriminating, but the United States has one last step. If the America is going to truly provide equal representation for all people then it ought to grant suffrage to those of age 16 and up. Before proposing that the voting age should be lowered it is necessary to examine the arguments of those opposed. Those opposed to lowering the voting age make three main arguments. The first being that teens under the age of 18 lack the maturity and brain development to make an informed decisions for themselves. The second argument contends that voter turnout among young people is already dismal and lowering the voting age would have negligible effects. The last argument claims that there is no valid reason...
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