"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who, have a right.and a desire to know" - John Adams 1765 Today, let’s discuss the importance of awareness and involvement of citizens in our democracy, and how to ensure the continuation of this for the future. First, let’s head to the polls and learn why some citizens aren’t invested in or aware of our government Next, let’s get our ballots and see how this is affecting and changing our democracy Finally, let’s submit our ballots and discuss how to prevent this First, let’s discuss why Voter Apathy is an issue. Voter apathy is the lack of interest or awareness of our government and elections. This is becoming more and more prevalent among voters between the ages of 18 and 29. According to the US Census …show more content…
According to PBS, one reason is that many US citizens feel powerless in our political system. They believe that their vote won’t have any impact, or that politicians are corrupt and apathetic to the issues of the average citizen. Another reason is that some citizens are confused or intimidated by our political system, current issues, and proposed policies. This leads to many voters not showing up at the polls because they are uninformed. Voter apathy can also be caused by negative portrayals of both parties via the media or campaign ads. Because of this, a lot of voters have lost their trust in our politicians and feel that our government is toxic. Next, let’s see why this is an issue. Our democracy was designed and modified so that everyone could have a say in our government. This is what prevents us from being tyranny. If people aren’t voting, then, our policy cannot reflect what Americans believe. Especially when it’s only certain groups that aren’t voting. For example, if Gen Z doesn’t have a high voter turnout, then issues involving college students and those beginning to join the workforce cannot be known. Not voting, has just as much of an impact as
should govern the citizens. While having the privilege to vote, many Americans choose to not vote for reasons such as registration requirements, limited number of political parties, the belief that their vote won’t actually count, and for some, simple apathy. One of the number one reasons why Americans do not vote is because of the registration requirements. Voting is a process and there are requirements to do so. People who go to vote must be citizens of the United States, meet the state’s residency
was 20% (Kernell, et. al 2014, 162). The low voter turnout rate was because people of color were required to take a literacy test. This all changed when President Johnson
Canada is a great democratic nation, but like all other countries it also has its own political flaws. Some aspects of the Canadian political scene are questionable for their slight violation against democratic norms. Many debates have taken place for the reforms needed in the Canadian political system, in order to make it more democratic. The role the bureaucracy plays in Canada is immense. They are non-elected government officials that work under various different government departments, Crown
appears that there are a number of discrepancies between our electoral system and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Other nations provide Canada with excellent examples of electoral systems that more accurately represent the opinions of voters, such as proportional representation. This is a system of voting that allocates seats to a political party based on the percentage of votes cast for that party nationwide. Canada’s current system of voting is undemocratic because it fails to accurately
and the term “proportional representation” became printed across the media as a way for Britain to gain a fairer voting system with fairer results. As events unfolded The Telegraph reported, just two days after the ballots had closed, that 48% of voters supported the implementation of a Proportional Representation system , which may not seem a great amount but is still a higher percentage than a first party has gained since Labour in 1966. It is also worth noting that even though the First Past
Many philosophical theories and arguments were used during the establishment of government in the United States. These arguments told of the virtues of democracy as an instrument, and some suggested, that democracy was based on the moral rights of men having equality and liberty regardless of the outcomes. As an instrument, “John Stuart Mills believed that since democracy brings a lot of people into the process of decision making, it can take advantage of many sources of information and critical
be answered by the fact that young citizens do not feel such a pull to the voting booth because they do not feel as though candidates are going to do anything to serve their problems. Young voters also
depiction of liberty originated from the individual rights of ‘life, liberty and property’ (Wintrop, 1987, p.12), as states have developed, these rights have expanded countering the growing state, franchise and economy. In addition human nature and voter apathy remain as threats in preventing the fulfillment of the democratic process. The fundamental weakness of a Liberal Democracy
While this may be true to some extent, what this argument fails to see is that history has shown us time and time again that even the greatest civilizations have to fall. Take the Athenian government for example. They, too, had a government that functioned much like our democratic government today, and
A strong example often used against compulsory voting is the lifeboat theory. The theory states that there are 11 people on a lifeboat with no navigator, map, or compass, and their supplies will only last long enough for one attempt at a journey to safety. Every person in the boat develops a guess as to the direction to land and safety, but no one is entirely sure if any of their theories will work. The situation is so dire that the occupants of the lifeboat decide that everyone should be able to
problematic. Public opinion is vital in sustaining democracy. Unfortunately, from recent polls, it is clear that Americans do not know very much about politics in general, so voters cannot make good decisions without having interests in or knowledge of politics; however, the media can help voters make better decisions, provided that voters look at media sources objectively, because it allows for a wide variety of ways for people to get their information. The conventional wisdom about public opinion was
If countries have a singular goal of simply increasing voter turnout, compulsory voting could remedy this problem and it should be more accurately defined as being compulsory voter turnout (Lever, 2010). The belief that compulsory voting inherently improves democracy is misleading (Lever, 2010). Canada should not force its citizen’s to vote because other then increasing voter turnout, compulsory voting would infringe on the right of the voter to not vote, it would not lead to a more informed or engaged
UK politics. A democratic deficit is defined as any situation in which there is believed to be a lack of democratic accountability and control over the decision-making process. Many would argue that the UK suffers from a democratic deficit. This argument is supported by the illegitimacy of the house of Lords, the low turnout and participation in UK politics, and the failings of the first-past-the-post voting system. However, it is more likely that there is not a deficit of democracy in the UK, due
Electoral College Reform Since the fiasco that was the Presidential Election in the year 2000, many Americans have been calling for a reform of the Electoral College. Most of these people were Gore supporters; disillusioned by the fact that Bush won the office of the President while, in fact, he lost the popular vote. The American people did not elect George W. Bush; the Electoral College did. Last year’s circumstance was the first of its kind in over a century. There have been many close elections
Strategy in which Democrat president Lyndon Johnson’s support of Civil Rights harmed his political power in the South, Nixon and the republican party picked up on these formerly blue states and promoted conservative politics in order to gain a larger voter representation. Nixon was elected in a year drenched in social and political unrest as race riots occurred in 118 U.S cities at the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s murder, as well as overall American bitterness due to the assassination of presidential