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Why the legal age to vote should be changed to 16
Why should the voting age be reduced
Why should the voting age be reduced
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As voter turnout flucuates upwards and otherwise, we as americans are forced to consider the following; whether to keep the minimum age of 18, or lower it to 16. While there are potential issues with lowering the age, there are also ways we could benefit, such as giving more citizens a say in the way society is managed. Lowering the voting age would also allow for young people to balance the ages of voting citizens. A possible downside to lowering the age could be that, at an earlier age than normal, people may get discouraged about politics, and stop voting altogether.
In the year 2012, 51% of all eligible citizens cast their votes in the presidential election. While having a lower minimum age could increase the demographic of eligible
... equal system. The lower age could also encourage and interest youth much more in political processes and parties as now they would actually be able to impact the way they are governed and who is governing them. Politics would be much more noticeable in schools and the general knowledge of politics and the political process would drastically increase. The youth would also be more likely to develop earlier the skills and potentials needed in later life politically and even socially. In conclusion when all is said and done I, personally would like to say the voting age lowered to sixteen for many of the reasons above. There will be many people opposing this movement but I think it is time for the youth of Canada to be heard and if they wish they should have the opportunity to vote and express their opinions and choices.
It’s very unsettling to know that there was a six percent decrease in young voters (ages 18-29) in the 2012 election compared to 2008 (Circle Youth data). In 2007 the National Conference of State Legislatures publicly released a report and data set on voter turnout in democratic countries. This is a quote from that report titled Getting out the Vote, “It should be noted that in 1972, 18-year-olds were added to the eligible voting population, thus decreasing the percentages. Nonetheless, voter tu...
The first support Kamenetz argues is, the 2008 presidential campaign brought in the most voters under the age of 29 in history. If the voting age would be decreased, there would be more voters under the young adult category. There would be an increase of voters, including those under the age of eighteen.
In the late 1960’s to mid-70’s the legal drinking age was 18 because the voting age of 21 was lowered to 18. However, in 1984 a bill was passed that every state in the United States was to change the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. Although this is a highly controversial topic many young adults believe lowering the drinking age back to 18 is best because if they may vote at the age of 18 then, they should be allowed purchase alcoholic beverages. In an article “Should the U.S. lower its drinking age?” written by Brandon Griggs introduces the pros and cons of lowering the drinking age. Griggs explains two generations ago young adults didn’t have to worry much about getting caught drinking or buying their way out to purchase alcohol. Nowadays
Considering the delegates that are currently running for office, a voter should have a vast level of understanding regarding the intentions of each and every candidate. Arguing whether to raise or lower the age limit for the right to vote has raised many speculations as to how it would affect the economy. There are pros and cons within both sides of the argument, but any decisions made by the powers that be will have an adverse effect on today’s society if it is placed in the hands of the younger generation. Therefore, raising the voting age to twenty-one is a better way of making sure that voters are more aware and would be more equipped to making a more sound decision rather than lowering
Political inactivity on the part of young Americans stems from one fundamental source -- a general cynicism of the American political process. This disdain for politics is further perpetuated by a lack of voter education and a needlessly archaic voting procedure that creates barriers to voting where they need not exist. While many of these existing problems can be rectified with relative ease through the implementation of programs such as Internet voting and better voter education, such programs create only a partial solution.
As of the ratification of the 26th amendment in 1971, the voting age in the US is 18. As I turn 18 this coming summer I now have the chance to participate in elections local, state, and national wide. The history of youth voting has changed over time with that more 18-24 year olds are voting as time goes on. The question comes to mind about voting in that why would someone want to vote and if it’s just a waste of time. I believe that if people have the chance to vote, then they should which is why I am going to vote in elections to come in the future.
A political problem that has been argued over since prohibition is the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA). This is a controversial subject because many believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18 years old. “In the 1970’s the 26th amendment was passed which lowered the legal voting age, this caused 30 US states to lower their MLDA to 18, 19, or 20 which left 14 states with a MLDA of 21 by 1982” (Minimal Legal Drinking Age, 1). But reports later showed an increase in teenage car accidents in states with a lower MLDA; these states soon changed the MLDA back to 21.
The United States presidential election of 2012 was the 57th presidential election. The election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. The Democratic political leader was the incumbent President Barack Obama, and his candidate was vice President Joe Biden. Throughout this election the proportion of eligible voters who cast ballots shows that the rate was lower than in the past two presidential elections. Voter turnout decreased from 62.3 percent of eligible citizens voting in 2008 to an estimated 57.5 in 2012. The above calculation was also below the 60.4 percent in 2004 election, however above the 54.2 percent turnout in the 2000 election. Despite a rise of over eight million voters within the fitted population, turnout dropped from 131 million voters in 2008 to an estimated 126 million voters in 2012. When all ballots were computed, some 93 million eligible voters didn’t vote. There must be some contributing factors to see why there's a decline in voters’ turnout.
Term limits are a powerful political force and political reform. Throughout the establishment of the United States government, term limits have provided the American citizens the ability to regulate executive power. Many American citizens approve of the idea of term limits for Congressmen, along with many states and hundreds of cities and counties across the United States, yet the application of term limits of those in Congress has yet to be set. On the contrary, however, some state and local governments have adopted term limits for officials. This active and swift spread of support demonstrates that the public is not satisfied with the efforts of their prevalent careerism and think that adding amendments to the federal legislator would benefit Congress and the nation as
All 50 states have set the minimum legal drinking age to 21, although some states have made exceptions. Raising the drinking age to 21 in order to avoid teenage drinking has instead created excessive drinking in private places, therefore producing more danger (“Minimum”). The national drinking age was raised from 18 to 21 in 1984; it was not until 1988 that all 50 states had a minimum legal drinking age of 21 (Wechsler and Nelson 986). Drinking underage is permitted in certain circumstances in 45 of the states; 29 states allow it on private property under parental consent, 25 states allow it for religious purposes, and 11 for educational purposes (“Minimum”). Lowering the minimum drinking age is ineffective and would benefit the economy, it
The legal drinking age in the United States should not be 21; instead it should be changed to 18. Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States, more than tobacco and illicit drugs. Many Americans start drinking before the age of 21. The age of 18 is adulthood in the United States, and adults should make their decisions about consuming alcohol (Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered from 21 to a Younger Age?, 2015). If the law lower the age of drinking, it decrease the excitement of breaking the law. Lowering the drinking age would be good for the economy also.
Although there are 44 million eligible young voters ages 18-29, in 2012 only 45% of them voted. These young people make up one fifth, or 21%, of the eligible voting population, yet they often do not vote. Voting is a tremendous gift! Young people in many other countries around the world have to fight to gain this right. In America, voting is often taken for granted by all age groups, but the youth take it for granted the most.
One on-going debate that has caused quite the argument between researchers, and that has been going on for decades in America, has been if the minimum legal drinking age should be lowered from age 21 to 18 for U.S. citizens. It has been clear that there is a drinking problem amongst this age range, for excessive drinking contributes to more than 4,300 deaths a year among those who under 21 in the U.S. (Fact Sheets, 2016). The debate in this argument circles around pinpointing the right method to combat this drinking problem. On one side, there are top professional researchers and institutes that believe that the MLDA, or minimum legal drinking age, should continue to stay at 21. They believe that this is the most appropriate MLDA, because they believe teens younger than this age don’t know how to handle alcohol responsibly, which could ultimately result in harm to themselves or others. On the other side of this argument are those who believe the MLDA should be lowered to around 18 or 19 years old. Proponents of this argument
It’s a well known fact that in America the legal age to drink is 21, but if you ask most people under 21, they will say they have consumed some type of alcoholic drink. While many have different opinions on what the legal age should be, its quite clear that there is backlash in any decision made. For this paper I looked at one op-ed written by Zapoliski which came from the New York Times, she argued that the drinking age should be kept at 21. The second op-ed I looked at was written by Glaser in the New York Times, she argues that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 and enforced more. Although both op-eds were very compelling I found that Zapolski’s article in the New York times is more compelling as to why the