...important to the future of the United States? In this essay, local voter turnout in the US, Canada, and the UK will be described and explained and then compared in...
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...The Case for Mandatory Voting in Canada by Senator Mac Harb The decline in voter turnout over the last several elections is of great concern to everyone interested in politics and parliamentary government. Many ideas have been put forth about how to address this problem including a recent Bill that would provide for a system of compulsory voting similar to that used in several other countries. The following article is based on the speech at second reading by the sponsor of Bill S-22. O ur democracy depends upon the active participation of its citizens, and, while voting is o n l y o n e e l e me n t o f p o l i ti c a l engagement, it remains the very foundation of our democracy. Reinforcing this foundation is the goal of Bill S-22, which will establish mandatory voting in Canada. This legislation is a direct response to a rising electoral crisis. Voter turnout has been on the decline in Canada since the 1960s, reaching a record low of just 60.9 per cent in the 2004 election. Other Western democracies are also experiencing the same dramatic drop. Only 55.3 per cent of Americans voted in the 2004 presidential election, and the 2001 British general election recorded a turnout of just 57.6 per cent. Only one in four Canadians under the age of 25 bothered to vote in the last election. Research shows that these young people, as they age, may not re-engage in the system as their parents and grandparents did. Canadian researchers tell us that this generational...
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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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...Mandatory Voting as a Response to Declining Voter Turnout In many parts of the world, the act of voting is seen as an act that empowers citizens and an act that gives them a voice. However, with the decline of voter turnout, this voice seems to be coming from a select few, leaving political scientists wondering about the remaining of the population. In response to this situation, many have suggested making the act of voting, a mandatory one. Making voting a compulsory act for all citizens does provide both the citizens and the political system with many benefits. However, there are those that oppose this idea, stating possible disadvantages and contradiction in ideologies. The matter in hand is tough for any nation to deal with but making voting a mandatory act proves to have more advantages than disadvantages. With the issue on hand, each side of the debate has to be given an equal opportunity to present their ideas in hopes of coming up with a viable way to deal with the situation. The hopeful outcome of making voting mandatory in countries has shown is to have an increase in voter turnout. This can be approached in different ways. For example, countries such as Switzerland, Peru, Argentina and Australia impose fines on people who do not vote. (Henry Milner 11). Other countries use other methods to single out non-voters. In Peru, voters carry around stamped cards that confirm they have voted in the election and these cards are presented at public offices for services to...
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...How does technology affect political participation Introduction 3 Evolution of social media since 2000 3 Use of social media during Arab Spring 4 Hong Kong Protest 5 Use of Social Media During the Quebec Student Strikes in 2012 6 Social Media in 2015 Political Campaigns & Using Technology to Increase Voter Turnout 8 Conclusion : Does social media actually affect political participation Yes or No. 11 Appendix A 12 Appendix B 13 References 14 Introduction Social media is a part of the lives of the majority of the population today. Developed countries and developing countries alike have a variety of uses and applications that aid in day-to-day activities and communications. In this paper, we focus on the use of social media and the effects it has on political participation. We will look at popular social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and explore how their evolution is affecting political participation. Using the historical examples of Arab Spring, the Hong Kong protest of 2014, the Quebec student strikes of 2012, and the recent Canadian Federal Election, we will highlight the importance of social media and its uses to influence and encourage political participation during each event. Evolution of social media since 2000 The expansion of the Internet during the 21st century, as well as the development and spread of mobile phone technology, has enabled and promoted the unprecedented...
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...minor punishment such as a small fine. The theory behind compulsory voting is that it will increase participation in parliamentary election, thus creating a more legitimate representative democratic system. Current major democratic countries that currently employ an enforced compulsory voting system include Australia, Argentina, and Brazil. This paper will argue that voting should not be made compulsory in Canada, on the principles that there is no proof that increasing voter turnout will legitimize our representational democracy, and that we have the right to abstention. I will prove this argument by examining the political scholarship produced by Sara Birch, Justine Lacroix, and Annabelle Lever. The first academic journal I will be examining will be that of Sara Birch in her 2009 paper The Case for Compulsory Voting. In this paper, Birch is advocating that all democratic countries should implement a compulsory voting system. Birch’s primary point of reasoning behind this notion is that the electoral process has become illegitimate as a result of an unbalanced voter turnout in relation to age and class (Birch, 2009). Furthermore, she believes that by making voting a mandatory practice, it will increase “social, political, and procedural fairness.” (Birch, p.21). These three constituents form the basis for her argument. Political...
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...Voting Problem in America Voting Problem in America Numerous studies have been steered to support with observing for influences that will demonstration by public do not contribute in voting. It has remained a mounting difficulties with appropriate voters not registering and object their ballot. Over the decades, Americans have vanished trace with the antiquity of voting. Voting for in determinations supports in providing underpinning on why society do not participate in voting. Analyses provide tangible influences with why societies do not vote with illustration clusters support. Discovery of behaviors will show the unabridged development with the existing system supports with the American community. The 2008 elections enquiry provides awareness with the diverse motives from highest to lowest. Giving some understanding on the origin of the unruly and outcome resolutions to battle these problems. Examination can transform that are currently in domicile and assuring voting contributions on the ability to speak on the issues and distresses. Observing at other countries for potential solutions to the problem can be one riposte for the United States voting delinquent. Using tads and shards can support with altering he existing classification that does not work. Without transformation, the voting contribution will endure to diminish. The history behind the voting in America helps wonder why this pass civil liberty has fallen to many Americans waist side in today’s world. As America...
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...project management software developed by a Canadian company Web systems Inc. based in Quebec City, Canada. The introduction of information and communications technologies (ICT) into the electoral process is generating both interest and concern among voters, as well as practitioners across the globe. Most electoral management bodies (EMBs) around the world use new technologies with the aim of improving the electoral process. These technologies range from the use of basic office automation tools such as word processing and spreadsheets to more sophisticated data processing tools, such as data base management systems, optical scanning and geographic information systems. Alvarez, R. M. and Hall, T. E. (2008) Electronic Elections: The Perils and Promises of Digital Democracy. Princeton; Princeton University Press Elections by nature are fraught with risk. Michael Alvarez and Thad Hall fully examine the range of past methods and the new technologies that have been created to try to minimize risk and accurately reflect the will of the voters. Drawing upon a wealth of new data on how different kinds of electronic voting machines have performed in recent elections nationwide, they evaluate the security issues that have been the subject of so much media attention, and examine the impact the new computer-based solution is having on voter participation. Alvarez and Hall explain why the benefits of e-voting can...
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...Jean Charest was born on June 24, 1958, in Sherbrooke, in the Eastern Townships. His parents are Rita (born Leonard), an Irish Quebecer, and Claude "Red" Charest, a French Canadian.[2] He obtained a law degree from the Université de Sherbrooke and was admitted to the Barreau du Québec in 1981. He is married to Michèle Dionne (since June 21, 1980) and they have three children, Amélie, Antoine, and Alexandra. Charest is fully bilingual in French and English. Some have wrongfully claimed that Jean Charest downplays his legal first name John by presenting himself in French as Jean so as to appeal more to francophone Quebecers. For example, in the 1997 federal election, Bloc Québécois MP Suzanne Tremblay attacked Charest by saying, "First, let's recall who Jean Charest really is... his real name is John, that's what's on his birth certificate, not Jean."[3] Charest responded that, his mother being an Irish-Quebecer, it was the Irish priest who baptized him that wrote John on the baptism certificate, but that he was always known as Jean in his family and with his peers as well. He also went to French schools. Federal politics He worked as a lawyer until he was elected Progressive Conservative member of the Canadian Parliament for the riding (electoral district) of Sherbrooke in the 1984 election. From 1984 to 1986, Charest served as Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole of the House of Commons. In 1986, at age 28, he was appointed to the Cabinet of then Prime Minister...
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...Democracy Latisha Wallace October 11, 2014 Govt 2305 American Government Today’s democratic societies practice representative democracy but the ideal of a true representative democracy, where those elected to power mirror the population of a given society is inconsistent with reality. The reality is that, there is an underrepresentation of different minority groups both in terms of their presence in the political assemblies and in terms of their substantive representation. History has shown that minority groups have been continuously underrepresented in most of the world’s democratic societies, and while there have been small improvements in some countries, for the most part minorities in general have yet to make any impressive gain towards more effective political representation. In the existing literature, the under-representation of minorities in countries across the world and the potential impact of the Single Member Plurality and “pure” Proportional Representation systems on that representation have been studied extensively by authors and social scientists such as Norris (2004), Lijphart (1994), Blais (2008), Pitkin (1997), Reynolds and Reilly (2005) and Diamond (2008). While those studies have shown that minorities are better represented under “pure” proportional representation than under Single Member Plurality systems, little is known about the propensity of Mixed Member Proportional systems to provide minority groups with access to power and or better representation...
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...to vote. 3. voted at the polling place, elementary school Sample definition: A precinct is a small area from which all the residents report to vote at one location. 4. wards 5. bipartisan 6. nominate 7. Liberals 8. resign CHAPTER 5 Section 1 Reading Comprehension 3 1. Answers for rankings will vary. Historical basis: The two-party system is rooted in the beginnings of the U.S., when the ratification of the Constitution gave rise to the first two parties. Tradition: Most Americans accept the idea of a two-party system simply because there has always been one. Electoral system: Since only one winner per office comes out of each election, voters have only two viable choices—the candidate of the party holding office or the candidate with the best chance of replacing the current officeholder. Voters tend to think of a vote for a minor party candidate as a wasted vote. Republicans and Democrats work together in a bipartisan way to write election laws to make it hard for a minor party or independent candidate to win elective office. Ideological consensus: Compared with other countries, the U.S. has been free of longstanding disputes based on economic class, social status, religious beliefs, or national origin. As a result, there is a lot of common ground between the two major parties, although they disagree on specific policies. 2....
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...European Government and Politics GV 2218 Continuous Assessment 2 Name: Shane O Callaghan Student Number: 109819851 Course: BCOM2 Assess the merits of the political reform process underway in the UK. You should examine the proposed changes under a number of headings including but not limited to the electoral system, the House of Lords, and open government. You must discuss why potential reform should take place, its observable implications and consider comparative examples where the changes already exist. Elections are an integral figure in any countries political system. Elections are also important symbolically in most competitive party systems, legitimizing a country’s political system in the eyes of it citizens. They offer a means of participating in politics, elections also give a feeling that they are exercising choices about who should represent them in the national parliament and about who should form the next government. One common debate of which Party System is best to run a Nation has long been argued by politicians and also which is the electoral system that governs the conduct of elections. With elections, change or reform can always be seen and in one case the United Kingdom is a perfect example, in May 2010 the first united coalition in the Britain since World War 2 and now currently there is an on-going debate for political reform in the UK regarding the current electoral system. Would new government bring closure to the drama of reform in The House of Lords...
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...● 01. 6 generalizations about institutions 1. People use institutions to serve specific ends. 2. They divide labor .3. Institutions save everyone's time and energy; in technical language, they reduce transaction costs. 4. Institutions exist independently of the particular people participating in them. 5. Institutions distribute authority. More power inheres in some roles than in others. 6. Participants will attempt to adapt it to their own purposes; but they are difficult to change. ● 02.How do institutions check tyranny? - checks and balances:Social pluralism, we divide government up between three institutions with all the same amount of power, ● 03.Why are institutions difficult to change? Path dependency: reliance on experience, constrained by status quo; solutions based on familiar institutions. Some participants are content with current arrangements and not willing to change. ● 04.Framers consciously designed a set of institutions for making it possible to do politics of this kind. The point is to design a set of institutions that control the effects of factions--by setting them against one another, but dividing authority among institutions ● Problems with the Articles of confederation No ability to tax , No central currency, No way to negotiate treaties ,No executive capacity, difficult to maintain public order, nation security. ● 06.Deals addressed by the constitution Path dependency: reliance on experience, constrained by status quo; solutions based on familiar...
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...Democracy index 2010 Democracy in retreat A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit www.eiu.com Democracy index 2010 Democracy in retreat The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy 2010 Democracy in retreat This is the third edition of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s democracy index. It reflects the situation as of November 2010. The first edition, published in The Economist’s The World in 2007, measured the state of democracy in September 2006 and the second edition covered the situation towards the end of 2008. The index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide for 165 independent states and two territories—this covers almost the entire population of the world and the vast majority of the world’s independent states (micro states are excluded). The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Countries are placed within one of four types of regimes: full democracies; flawed democracies; hybrid regimes; and authoritarian regimes. Free and fair elections and civil liberties are necessary conditions for democracy, but they are unlikely to be sufficient for a full and consolidated democracy if unaccompanied by transparent and at least minimally efficient government, sufficient political participation and a supportive democratic political culture. It is not easy to...
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...Brazil [pic] By:Megan Robinson [pic] Brazil is the 6th largest country in the world in size and the largest country in economy and size on the South American continent. While the country started under Portuguese rule for three centuries, Brazil took over its Independence in 1882. Brazil’s official language is Portuguese and the capital is Brasilia. The country is prodominatly known for the Amazon Rainforest. Brazil follows in size to the largest economy in the world, the United States of America.(The World Factbook) With Brazils growing economy they are doing things progressively more like the United States but still maintain some differences of their own. Families in America and Brazil in this current day are very similar. In Brazil the divorce rate has in the recent years hit and all time high. Divorce rates rose 36.8% in one year from 2009 to 2010. These increases were contributed to the ease of the divorce process that congress approved in 2009.This took their divorce rate to 1.8 per 1000 people.(Divorce Rate) However this number is still lower than that of the United States with a divorce rate of 4.9 per 1000 people.(Cherlin) When looking at fertility in Brazil, it has hit an all time low. According to a census in 2011, fertility fell to 1.94 children per woman. This is concerning because in order for Brazil to maintain their population women need to be conceiving on average of 2.1 children. Many factors are contributing to the decline in birth rate such as...
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