Did you know that only 58.5% of people from the ages of 18 through 24 are registered to vote? What happened to the other 41.5%? Did they forget to register? In some cases that may be it, but most of the time it is that people believe that their vote does not matter. These low registration numbers are important because they show how the citizens of the United States feel towards our government and feel towards our democratic voting system. I am a Junior in highschool, and everyday I see the common lack of knowledge about politics and government throughout people of all ages. Not only do they not understand politics, but they also dislike it when they hear anything about it. The common stereotype that politics are bad and that politics should …show more content…
By this I mean, they feel they cannot change anything about our government; hence, why so many people think their vote does not matter. Also, I found that in the 2012 presidential elections only 57.5% of the United States population voted. The reason as to why this is so important is because Barack Obama won the popular vote by only 5 million people. Some may think that is a large margin, but in reality it isn’t because over 90 million U.S. citizens did not vote. If those 90 million U.S. citizens actually voted, then our presidential election could have turned out very differently (Harden). Sadly, we will never know because so many people believe their vote does not …show more content…
Show the youth of America that the government is not evil and having discussions about politics is a good thing. We need to teach them about how the country is ran, not just teach them that there are three branches of our government. You only need a half year of government class to graduate high school, this should be changed. There needs to be multiple classes, so our youth will know about our government and politics. I suggest that there should be three to four classes required throughout high school. With that would come full knowledge about our government and the ins and outs of it. There needs to be open discussions, instead someone of being quieted because of talking about today’s problems, that someone should be praised. It is not okay that we let our youth go into the adult lifehood not having anywhere near a sufficient understanding about how our country is managed. Many people could argue, that half a year of government class is enough, but that is not the case at all. I have talked with many adults who have graduated high school a long time ago and many people who have graduated high school recently. I found out the only individuals who I could have a discussion about our government with, is the people who willingly took the time into learning the foundation of our
On the national civics assessment, “two-thirds of 12th graders scored below ‘proficient’…and only 9 percent could list two ways a democracy benefits from citizen participation” (O’Connor and Romer 4). The information provided clarifies just how little students know about democracy. Without education on the subject, they are unaware as to how their government contribution is beneficial and why it is needed in the first place. The students, because of their lack of understanding, therefore choose to not take part in their government and fail to carry out their duties as a citizen. The authors provide more research that shows “the better people understand our history and system of government, the more likely they are to vote and participate in the civic life” (O’Connor and Romer 8).
When America was first established, they had the highest voting turnouts ever in American history. Ever since, America’s voting turn-out has dropped (Fortin). The reason for the high turn outs were because American colonists wanted change from the British’s electoral system. As history writes, American colonist rebel and over time becomes one of the greatest countries ever. Today, Americans are one of the worst countries in vote to registration as they rank 120 in the world (Pintor). Over the summer, I got to learn more about Ohio’s electoral system and voting turn outs in a first hand experience. A decreasing number of voting to registration is not only a national problem, but a local issue as well and there are creative ideas in fixing these
Thus, inactivity in voting threatens the very legitimacy of our government. In the recent November 7, 2013 midterm election, a few counties reported a mere 4% of eligible voters actually participated, in some cases, in voting for a policy referendum that would affect how millions of dollars would be spent in the coming years.... ... middle of paper ... ...
It is the fact that so many of those who do vote don't have their votes counted.
Contrary to what may seem logical, majority votes under a compulsory voting system do not necessarily represent accurate opinion. Rather, compulsion encourages apathy, characterized by “a lack of concern, enthusiasm or interest” ("Definition of Voter Apathy"). In essence, voter apathy “occurs when voters decide that they really don’t care who wins or loses” ("Definition of Voter Apathy") due to “a general feeling that a person’s vote doesn’t matter or even a distrust in regards to how the election is actually being run” ("Definition of Voter Apathy").
The Chartist movement (a working class political movement) in 1840 believed “People had no one else but themselves to blame for the actions of their politicians” (Nash). What Mr. Nash and the chartist movement believe couldn’t be more on the spot. This country has gotten to the point where people find it hard to walk down their street to the elementary school where the voting polls are, and take a few minutes to cast a vote. A vote that millions of people around the world wish they were able to have them selves. With all the political suffrage that goes on through the world and people forced to love a leader, these no-shows should be thankful to live in a democracy. A place where elections aren’t rigged and the people are truly heard. This is why the topic of voting turnout needs to be raised. Also it’s very annoying to hear people complaining about our President when they did not even vote. It’s a very bad habit to not vote, and it needs to change with the younger citizens of this country. Helping younger people see the importance of voting needs to start with technological and educational ideas while expanding all the way to social event ideas. Only then will America’s ability to find answers to voting turnout increase.
According to a study done by Nonprofit Vote only “an estimated 58.7% of eligible voters turned out to vote” ("Voter Turnout" ) in 2012’s presidential election, which is below the 62% that was achieved in 2008. (Ginsberg 306). According to the United States Census Bureau in 2012 71.2 percent of Americans reported that they were registered to vote, but only 61.8 reported that they actually did so. ("Voting and Registration"). While each source didn’t report the exact same statistics in America these percentages are considered highs in political participation. Even worse, in midterm elections voter turnout is normally closer to 33% and even lower for any local elections. (Ginsberg 306). While we may consider any of those statistics good for America, looking at world democracies we are trailing far behind, in many “European countries and other western democracies [the] national voter turnout is usually between 70 to 90 percent.”(Ginsberg 306). The question is then asked why don’t American’s vote, which is then an...
The U.S. is not known for high voter turnout. Consistently, the United States has fallen short in comparison to other “well-established democracies” (Fair Vote). United States has one of the lowest
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.
Election (1999) is a film is about an election at a high school for student council president. In this year’s election teacher Jim McAllister becomes irritated with the only candidate Tracy Flick, as he finds she not deserve to become president. This is partly due to the relationship Tracy had with his best friend and former colleague Dave Novotny. Tracy Flick, Paul Metzler and Jim McAllister tell the story about the election years after high school. As the teenagers tell the story while they are adults and the teacher is also an adult, the viewpoint of the movie is an adult perspective and thus not from a teenager perspective. According to Johanna Wyn Stereotypes from adults “derive more from ‘the desires, fantasies and interests of the adult
Taking a look at this past election, according to The Daily Dot, “about 40% of registered voters did not cast
We the people, see our government as a coalition between our leaders and ourselves, leaders that we elect to represent and enforce our values. They merely see us a number. This issue emerges currently with regard to the election of the next president of the United States. The entire issue deals not with the citizens’ wants and needs, but with the “numbers”. We are no longer individuals, but merely a vast pool of insignificant numbers. Numbers that only become imperative when the disparity between them is diminutive. “Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong we should certainly have heard (Auden).” This question is still being asked today, the only difference now is that there is no doubt whether or not the opinions of the masses are being heard. The question remaining is whether or not the government is actually listening to the people.
All that can really be seen is what appears before ourselves. What we see on billboards, television, or radio show constantly the views of a new runner for politics whom proclaims what he or she wishes to accomplish. Listening to it, one can create a thought of why did they choose that topic for an argument? Today not all people vote so the ones who do are the people these “runners” focus on. Why would they fight to create increased pay to schools if all the voters are the elderly? Why not focus upon retirement benefits or healthcare? As citizens we have complaints on how the government manages our money and yet we do not do anything about it. Voting gives a chance. If certain groups grew in votes different ideas would be made for these “runners”. Say the young adults started to vote a lot more. We could have schooling benefits, less tuition fees, higher education levels, and possibly a large increase in jobs. One United Kingdom publisher explains, “If you vote, the campaigners urge, the politicians will have to listen to you and things will change.”(Kirkup, The Telegraph). Also youth have the longest time, and live what the country becomes. To conclude, voting doesn’t take long and doesn’t require almost any effort. All it requires just an open mind and yet people just do not realize this opportunity. Right now we could be living in the richest most opportunistic country if everyone could understand what can become of our views. Life could be looked forward not
The action of voting is such important role in how our country is going to be developed, especially effects on the economy, foreign relationships, society, etc. People are becoming much involved in politics, which is extraordinary because it means that the people are understanding how important their vote is and how it brings change to the issues that truly bother them. Many citizens don’t vote because they are either lazy or too busy, they either have jobs, classes, families, or other responsibilities take care of, but voting is a responsibility that should be attended. Voting could be the thing to prevent awful political leader’s to be put in office who are not focusing on what’s truly important, which is the people, which means that
They can say that the youth are the real asset of changing in spite that we are facing poor political governance. Youth empowerment can serve as a good leader through encouraging and influencing someone, to lead and improve their environment into a better system. Another solution is providing knowledge about good political governance. These days on the off chance that they get some information about political perspectives they don't think about it, giving a superior program to political learning can be a superior arrangement. Lastly is about the attention to politics, we should pay attention to politics so Governmental issues are not simply political figures and pioneers, we vote in favor of, yet issues that influence you whether you choose to focus or not . Furthermore, we ought to open our eyes to what is going on in our surroundings on our vote matters. In this manner extraordinary choice in picking the best pioneer is