Citizens Voting
There are many ways for a United States’ citizen to participate in his/her government, one way in particular is voting. In roughly the past century, there has been an all-time low voter turnout in the U.S.. There are factors that affect the amount of citizens that vote every time the opportunity comes. These circumstances mainly are age and education that is provided for that individual. As well as age and education, there is also a dynamic that the government set that hinders voter turnout. Other than voting, there is another way citizens can be involved in government in a couple of ways. Two components that affect the probability of citizens voting are age and education. A citizen’s age can greatly influence whether they can vote or not.
The legal voting age in the U.S. is 18 years of age, this is backed by the twenty-sixth amendment. This amendment does not let any state not allow anyone eighteen years old or older the right to vote. Putting an age limit on voting affects the voter turnout negatively. The U.S. census bureau states that as of 2013, 23.3% of our population contains citizens under the age of 18. That is almost a quarter of the U.S. population being denied the right to vote. Another aspect that is negatively perturbing voting participation is the U.S. education system. According to Huffington Post, only nine states require a high school government credit for graduation. So, out of the fifty states, only nine have to learn government in a school curriculum. To put that into perspective, only 18% of the states will be educated about the United States government. Many young adults do not understand how powerful their vote really is, or even how to vote. However, there is another reason that voting turnouts are not very high. One electoral requirement that encumbers the voting turnout for elections is registration. The Minnpost states; “In general, the governments know the names, ages and addresses of most of its citizens and — except in the United States — provide the appropriate polling place with a list of those qualified to vote. The voter just has to show up. In the United States, the responsibility is on the citizen to get registered.”. Most people probably dislike the hassle it takes to vote, due to registration purely being the citizen’s responsibility. However, elections are not the only linkage institution in the United States. The media is a vast linkage institution in the U.S.. The media takes on the forms of social media, internet, newspapers, books, television, comics, posters, billboards, and propaganda. A citizen could easily go onto Twitter and retweet a candidate's campaign slogan. Another way a citizen can get involved is by writing a political comic that summarizes a current government event. The best part about this linkage institution is that it is very accessible. Anybody near or in civilization can be informed in this way. As a U.S. citizen, there a variety of ways to participate in government. Voter turnouts are not very high because many citizens do not participate in elections. It is not a surprise as this is the result of an age limit, not to mention a lack of education about government in U.S. high schools. Although, election voting is not the only linkage institution nor the most effective, it is convenient that the U.S. has more ways to get involved.
The legal voting age in the U.S. is 18 years of age, this is backed by the twenty-sixth amendment. This amendment does not let any state not allow anyone eighteen years old or older the right to vote. Putting an age limit on voting affects the voter turnout negatively. The U.S. census bureau states that as of 2013, 23.3% of our population contains citizens under the age of 18. That is almost a quarter of the U.S. population being denied the right to vote. Another aspect that is negatively perturbing voting participation is the U.S. education system. According to Huffington Post, only nine states require a high school government credit for graduation. So, out of the fifty states, only nine have to learn government in a school curriculum. To put that into perspective, only 18% of the states will be educated about the United States government. Many young adults do not understand how powerful their vote really is, or even how to vote. However, there is another reason that voting turnouts are not very high. One electoral requirement that encumbers the voting turnout for elections is registration. The Minnpost states; “In general, the governments know the names, ages and addresses of most of its citizens and — except in the United States — provide the appropriate polling place with a list of those qualified to vote. The voter just has to show up. In the United States, the responsibility is on the citizen to get registered.”. Most people probably dislike the hassle it takes to vote, due to registration purely being the citizen’s responsibility. However, elections are not the only linkage institution in the United States. The media is a vast linkage institution in the U.S.. The media takes on the forms of social media, internet, newspapers, books, television, comics, posters, billboards, and propaganda. A citizen could easily go onto Twitter and retweet a candidate's campaign slogan. Another way a citizen can get involved is by writing a political comic that summarizes a current government event. The best part about this linkage institution is that it is very accessible. Anybody near or in civilization can be informed in this way. As a U.S. citizen, there a variety of ways to participate in government. Voter turnouts are not very high because many citizens do not participate in elections. It is not a surprise as this is the result of an age limit, not to mention a lack of education about government in U.S. high schools. Although, election voting is not the only linkage institution nor the most effective, it is convenient that the U.S. has more ways to get involved.