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The American voting turnout is incredibly below other developed democracies. This is becoming a huge problem. Not just because the majority of people are not voting, but because the majority of people are unrepresented. The people who are choosing not to be represented are moderates which are necessary for to maintain the political balance and avoid gridlocks in the government. They choose not to to vote because they feel apathetic to the issues that are being discussed. We have a issues based way of campaigning in America and we tend focus on only a select few issues like abortion or gay rights. Those who are not worried about the specific issues don't vote because they feel that these are the only points of concern.We need to step away from
The "silent majority" of the American people is now accepted as the status quo, the way things always have been and will be. Voter turnout is now the litmus test for political participation. Non-voters are becoming rampant in our democracy, with voter turnout hovering around a low 60% for general elections. At this rate, a candidate would have to win over 80% of that 60% vote in order to have true majority support. 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 to vote for a policy referendum that would aff...
Voting is one of the citizens’ rights living in a country. In the past, not everyone can vote. Voting used to be for only white American men. However, our ancestors fought for that rights. Eventually, any American who are older than eighteen can vote, despite their race or gender. In addition, voter turnout is used to keep track of the voting. It is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Unfortunately, the voter turnout has been decreasing over time, and it means that there are less and fewer people who actually show up and vote. This essay will discuss the voter turnout in Harris County, Texas.
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
"Miller light and bud light…either way you end up with a mighty weak beer!" This is how Jim Hightower (a Texan populist speaker) described the choices that the U.S. electorate had in the 2000 elections. This insinuates that there is a clear lack of distinction between the parties. Along with numerous others, this is one of the reasons why the turnout is so low in the U.S. elections. In trying to explain the low figures at the U.S. elections, analysts have called American voters apathetic to indifferent to downright lazy. I disagree that the 50% (in recent elections) of voters that fail to turnout to vote are lazy and that they have just reason not too. I will also show that the problem lies within the system itself in that the institutional arrangements, electoral and governmental, do not create an environment that is conducive to mass participation. I will address these main issues and several others that have an effect on voter participation. In doing so I will compare America to other established democracies.
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.
...er to understand why voter turnout is so low. As a society we must take into consideration all of these and find ways to promote higher turnout rates, whether it be through social reform programs to increase citizens socioeconomic status, more education, better political environments at the home and community level, or less restrictions on voting. In order for our society to effectively and efficiently function we must participate in our democratic system at higher percentages than an average participation of roughly 40 percent.
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.
“Just Vote.” That phrase has been tossed around for years but what if people don’t want to vote? The United States of America is a democracy but many people do not vote. Since World War II, no presidential election has ever involved 65% or more of registered voters. Have you ever thought about the people that don’t vote and why they don’t vote? Here are three reasons why Americans should not be required to vote: Sometimes people can be irresponsible, government should not force us to vote if we truly don’t want to, and we need to respect people’s wishes.
Voters in many areas of the U.S. are apt to vote differently as a whole from election to election. The nation has also had a decreased turnout rate for the presidential and local elections. The South has typically not followed these patterns that the rest of has seemed to be following. The Southern whites of the U.S. have typically followed and voted for the more conservative candidate and party.
The Reasons for low voter turnout in Texas is Legal Constraints, Demographic factors, Political structure, Party competition, Political culture.
Throughout American history, many minority groups have encountered significant barriers to the right to vote. Traditionally, specific populations concerned with protecting their power over others have maintained tight control over this privilege. In doing so, violations of basic human rights have occurred; state and federal governments established voting restrictions based on race. Fortunately, several methods were taken for overcoming these limitations that resulted in the voting practices used today. These recent legislations that government enacted have been to benefit voters. This research paper will go in depth with the main restrictions, laid out by either the states or the government, placed on different races in America, look at the over-comings of these limitations, and get a small glance at how voting is today and the acts the government put in place to help voters have a more pleasant voting experience.
If we imagine how voter turnout used to be in the later elections back then, it was nothing compared to how they are today. For example, if we examine the 2004 and 2008 election. We can conclude that the voter turnout in the 2004 election was greatly impressive. Altogether, Bush received around 62,000,000 votes. Why? because people actually came out to vote during this election and he even had a 6.4% higher numbers than in 2000. The 2008 election, we can see a higher voter turnout among African Americans particularly young voters. For example, compared to the 2004 election, a record 55.4% of blacks voted in 2008 than 47.1% in 2004 between the ages of 18-24. Between 25-44 years old, 64% of blacks voted in 2008 while 59.3% voted for Bush in 2004.
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, due to 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. This downward trend of voter turnout can be traced to the reforms of the Progressive era. Turnout in post-Progressive era America remained low, never reaching the levels attained before the Progressive era reforms. This would be expected, since there is little in the political history of these years that would indicate a return to a collectively oriented system of voter participation.
Did you know that Texas is consistently one of the worst states for voter turnout? This question leads you to think, why is voter turnout so low and what can we do to increase voter turnout? Different factors come into play such as demographics and legal constraints, but these factors also show us how we can apply new tactics to increase voter turnout.