Non Fixed Voting Cycles

One of The most integral aspects of a country is its right to hold elections to select the person or persons they wish to represent them. The democratic system has been evolving and changing since it was introduced by Athens. In todays world, democracy is the golden standard for countries and is widely utilized. As mentioned before, the democratic system is always being tweaked and improved, one aspect of democracy that is always being debated and changed is the voting system. This includes voting styles such as plurality, Mixed member proportional and Proportional representation. However, an often overlooked aspect is the decision between fixed and non fixed election times. The united states for example uses a fixed election election cycle,

The article briefly mentions that with fixed election cycles, political parties will likely manipulate the economy to appear favorable before an election. This is such an important factor in the debate between fixed and non fixed cycles and it should have been given a higher degree of focus. The academic journal “Political cycles and the macro economy” further legitimatizes what Leuprecht has to say about economic factors influencing the elections. This aforementioned journal provides examples of how a government can use economic actions to their benefit, such as providing tax cuts before an election which could give the party a pre election boost in support. The journal focused on exclusively economic factors that could be manipulated to seem favorable come election time. Leuprecht had similar points and stated that a government could be inclined to drive down unemployment and stimulate economy. but what about the other avenues in which a political leader could use to boost popularity when the set election date draws closer? A fixed election cycle means that certain strategies that influence public opinion can be put into place at an ideal premeditated time. One of the ways the public develops opinions on candidates is through election campaigns. A large amount of voters ends up forming their opinion of a candidate through ads, campaigning and social media. In fixed cycles such as the United States elections are a laborious process and the campaigning begins early and consumes time and money. When the date for an election is set in stone it means that when elections draw near everything else is shadowed and influenced by it. Not only that but the party in power begins to worry about about reelection quite early in their term. By the time the midway point passes in a united states presidential term, the candidate is