Some of the main features that distinguish voters from non-voters are level of education, social connectedness and age. The biggest difference between voters from non-voters is their level of education. Less educated Americans, (who typically identify as Democrats) are much less likely to vote. In addition, because of the significant correlation between education and income, lower socioeconomic people also tend to vote in lower proportions. Moreover, the more education that a person has the easier that it is for the person to understand the political system and find the information that they need to make political choices. More educated people are also more likely to feel that they should vote. (Hershey, 2015, p. 167)
Another main difference between voters and non-voters is their social connectedness. (Hershey, 2015, p. 170) People who belong to several organizations and are closely connected with family and friends are much more likely to vote. In addition, contact with politically knowledgeable and educated people also increases the likelihood of the person voting. These organizations and people help to mobilize voters. Voting is also more common among those who are well integrated into the community through home ownership, long-time residence, church attendance, or a job outside the home. Even a person’s marital status affects the likelihood that a person will vote.
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Young adults (age 18-26) are much less likely to go to vote than older people are. In addition, most young people’s interest in service has not extended to include political service. Older people are much more likely to vote in elections than younger people are. (Hershey, 2015, p. 168) moreover, older people tend to vote more frequently and consistently than young
...adults compared to older adults were less likely to respond that voting was extremely important for good citizenship (133). He concludes that it is too late for the generation of young adults that do not feel voting is an important civic responsibility, however, that it is not too late to convince them that politics matter by showing them that they are giving their opportunity to make important decisions that may impact their lives to others who have different ideas. One may agree with Wattenberg’s idea that habits follow people throughout their lives instead of changing as they cycle in life. His personal accounts are an impactful way to illustrate the importance of building a sense of duty at a young age and carrying that responsibility throughout one’s life.
Americans and Britons had a stronger sense of civic duty and and civic competence, believed they could “do something’ about an unjust law, and that citizens should be active in one’s community. While Americans lagged behind Austria, the Netherlands, West Germany, and the United Kingdom in voter participation, they seemed to be much more involved in other areas such as campaigning, being active in the local community, and contacting government official. But in “Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam states that not only has voter turnout declined, but so has citizen participation in politics and government. This is because they are more self-reliant now. People do not vote because they do not care. They believe the democratic values this nation was built upon do not exist
As becoming the age of 18, people has the chance to start voting. People 18-24 have a lower percentage of voting than other ages. This is because the youth vote has changed over time and the reasons why the youth vote doesn’t want to vote. I will vote in the upcoming elections when I turn of
The United States national elections have been experiencing a steady decline of eligible voters showing up to vote. This steady decline has been ongoing since experiencing a significant increase in voter turnout from 1948 through 1960. Over the years there has been significant, meticulous research done to try to pinpoint the cause of the decline in voter turnout over years. All of this research has led to the production of an enormous number of literatures written on the perceived causes. The vast amount of literature produced has led to a number of competing explanations about this decline. The quest for the answer to the question of, why this decline in voter turnout, is very important for an overwhelming majority of Americans and our democratic system because the people/voters can only truly be represented by our government if all eligible voters go out and vote. For this paper I will examine four theories that attempt to explain the decline. The four theories that I will discuss are voting barriers, campaign contributions, negative campaign advertising, and finally the cultural explanation. However, through thorough exploration and critiques of the strengths and weaknesses of these four theories, we will find that the cultural explanation theory is currently the most persuasive theory in the group. Finally, I will also explore some reasons as to why citizens do vote as well.
Evidence of this is according to the United States Election Project by George Mason University, when required to vote the percent of voters 18-29 years old increased. The more education a person has the more likely they will vote. In 2004, 56.4% of students with a high school diploma voted but in the same year 72.2% of students with some college or bachelor’s degree voted. Therefore the difference is between students with a college or bachelor's degree and a high school diploma is 15.8%. This evidence helps explain why Americans should be required to vote because if compulsory voting is applied then young voters’ percent will increase since most of young voters go to school and don't want to pay a
Among the many ways Americans can participate in politics, voting is considered one of the most common and important ways for Americans to get involved. The outcome of any election, especially at the national level, determines who will be making and enforcing the laws that all Americans must abide by. With this in mind one might assume that all Americans are active voters, but studies show the voter turnout is actually astonishingly low. With this unsettling trend it is important to know what statistics say about voter turnout as was as the four major factors that influence participation: Socioeconomic status, education, political environment, and state electoral laws, in order to help boost turnout in future elections.
In the 2012 United States Presidential election 58.2 percent of the registered voters turnout out to vote (IDEA). This figure is in stark contrast to many other wealthy democracies in the western world for the same election cycle (IDEA). This begs the question, why is voter turnout significantly lower in the US compared to the rest of the first world and other OECD countries? There are countless factors that could affect voter turnout, the most standard of which are based on socioeconomic status. But when considering only developed nations, more is at play in predicting turnout. Focus is turned to institutional factors and the effect election mechanisms, such as registration laws and party systems, have on political participation.
Out of all Canadian age groups, the voter turnout for young voters is the most disappointing. In specific today’s youth are less likely to vote, less interested in politics, and know less about politics compared to all other Canadians. This brings about a great deal of concern, as young people are the future of this country, and are expected to uphold the expectations put on them by their older counterparts. Youth are still being affected by the consequences brought about by politics; they still go to school, get jobs, get sick, and so forth, so why is it that they feel indifferent?
Voter turnout has been declining in the United States throughout history through the potential voters’ personal choice not to vote and ineligibility. According to research a large percentage of individuals are not voting because political parties fail to appeal to the voters and this leads to the voting population losing interest in the campaign, while others postpone registering and by the time they realize their delay the election is upon them.
Does Voting Really Matter? Today, many people don’t understand the importance of voting in the presidential elections- or even other meaningful elections related to public officials or issues. Millennials and Generation Z are the future of the world’s economy and politics. Many of these people from the younger generations are failing to vote on valuable issues because they believe that their vote doesn’t really matter.
Such factors are their educational background, socioeconomic status, gender and other demographics. There will be a definite difference between a person who has an excellent academic background and a person who does not have such qualification. In the same way, socioeconomic status of a person also decides how well a person engages politically (Riedel and Sullivan, 2001). For instance, an individual who comes from a very lower class will not pay heed to political system of the country because his basic concern is to feed his children and family. His priorities will be different from a person who has all basic necessities. In the same way a middle aged person who has an adequate knowledge and experience regarding the political system of a country and a young person who is just an amateur will have significant differences of political attitudes and political efficacy. So attitudes and experiences also affect the political efficacy and ultimately the voting behaviors of the individuals (Sheerin and Celia Anne, 2007). Mass Media is one of the tools to build these attitudes and political
Lowering the voting age will establish new voters when people are less likely to be moving as a result of attending college or leaving their families. Lowering the voting age will also help increase the civic engagement of young people. Lowering the voting age will improve lives of youth, by helping such as environmental degradation, public education policy, long-term government debt, corporal punishment laws, and poverty that impact young people more than anyone else. Kids are knowing enough about politics, as starting successful campaign for mayor and state legislature before they were even able to vote. People under 18 also participated in politics by forming political action communities, and managing campaigns.
These points include: a person’s social background and attitudes towards political issues, the political environment they are at during the election, and the state electoral laws (Ginsberg, et. al. 2014: 222). For example, people with higher levels of education, higher income, and higher social status, which call higher socioeconomic status, are much more likely to participate in politics action than those who have less education and
Teenagers want to create emphasizes on the importance of voting, and in a recent Politico article written by Peter Levine, argued that allowing people to vote at a young age would encourage them. “… 17 may be a better age… most [teenagers] are still living at home, where they can see parents voting… [and hear about it] in school.” Thousands of high-school students in Toronto area are ‘getting a chance to experience what it’s like to vote as part of a Canada-wide initiative to educate you people about their civic duty’ (CTV Toronto, A Lesson in Democracy). Many teenagers have opinions on how their lives are going to be affected, and lowering the voting
I know a lot of 13-14 year olds political views and I’ve heard a lot of very “different” and interesting views on who they would vote for if they could vote at that age or in the next election. One way this reason could be countered is saying that 16 year olds are not mature enough to vote, and do not have a reasonable political view. But that is not true, along with the weird and political views I do not believe in, there are some very strong and nice ones that are very convincing and also, do you need to be mature to vote? Hear me out, if you believe in a view of yours, if it’s not “mature” that doesn’t mean that it might not be a valid reason to vote for that person, but it is their opinion and they are entitled to that one. And the National Youth Right Association also said that; If we let dumb adults vote, why not let smart youth vote? Not all youth is immature or dumb and at most times, they can be smarter than adults. Think about this, what if we do let 16 year olds vote, they can be an amazing change in the voting standards, and can turn a vote from one candidate to