Voting and Turnout. The U.S. has one of the lowest voter turnout rates among modern democratic political systems. One study ranks the U.S. 120th on a list of 169 nations compared on voter turnout (Pintor, Gratschew, & Sullivan, 2002). While during the last decade many initiatives have been undertaken to increase voter participation, concerns about the possibility of election fraud have also increased. Additionally, some political interests feel threatened by the increase in turnout among some traditionally low-turnout ethnic minorities.…
5. Millions of Americans shirk their duty to vote regularly, a tendency that sets Americans apart from citizens of other Western democracies. True…
The two party system sometimes affects voting turnout. A state is usually considered a Democratic, Republic, or swing State. Some people think that their vote doesn’t matter because if their states is Democratic (or Republic) then the Democratic (or Republican) candidate will receive their state’s electoral votes. This results to only 45% of eligible voters actually voting.…
Bush was outpolled by Al Gore in the 2000 election. It was a victory short-lived due to the fact that Bush was the fourth president elected despite losing the popular vote. It is in fact, true that one can win the popular vote, but loose the Electoral College. Knowing this, many eyebrows have been raised over the Electoral College. According to Chapman, there have been numerous bills brought before congress to amend this issue, but would have no chance of passing. Chapman believes that the minority of senators from the overrepresented states would not allow the amendment to pass. Today, there is a movement calling for a more democratic alternative. This movement is called the National Popular Vote Plan. The main plan is have all states to agree to allocate their electoral college votes who wins the national popular vote, no matter which candidate wins in their state. This is similar to how Maine and Nebraska do their vote actually known as “populational proportion” . Chapman also believes that allowing the addition of two senators to each state changes the proportion of how much an individual vote is worth in each state. Additionally, he believes the Electoral College violates the one person, one vote rule which is a vital rule of a modern democracy. Gallup polls from 1944 to 2004 states that the majority of Americans would like to see the Electoral College abolished. (Chapman, 2012, p. 1.23). The United States Constitution does include a clause for…
Only 57.5 percent of americans vote for the president. That is just over half of our population that votes for the person that is running our country for 4 years. There are many flaws with the american elections process, and there are many other forms of government such as parliament and what those major differences between our system of government which is representative democracy and parliament.…
In the United States there are many different power relations. Many people argue that one of these political theories are better than the other one. In politics political participation, political institutions and public policy is a big part in politics. The political theories that are presented are Pluralism, State Autonomy, Elite Theory, Marxism, and Class Domination. Pluralism Theory is a center of how power is distributed between many groups. In State Autonomy there are two clear opposition sides between the states and they act in their own interests. Elite Theory is the theory of the states who describe the power relationships in the economy. Marxism Theory is the transition from capitalist to socialism. Class Domination…
Due to recent studies the United States has been uncovered in having one of the best voter satisfaction rates in the world. However, the United States has one of the lowest voter turnout rates. In countries such as Australia there are penalties for citizens who do not vote and have a low voter satisfaction rate. America does not deserve the punishment of compulsory voting as it does not improve government climate, non-voters tend to be uneducated politically, and compulsory voting requires a data base.…
Alienation of citizens in politics is measured by the comparison of indifference vs. activism in American political systems and culture. While a slim number of citizens vote in every election and pay attention to their state policies and officials, there is a large number of citizens displaying indifference about politics, who do not even vote at all. These citizens who do not care to participate in or pay attention to politics may be consciously choosing this path on their own, or they may have fallen into a feeling of alienation by the system. Either way, in his article, Harwood discusses how many citizens of 1996 are disconnected from government.…
Voter turnout can increase if the United States makes it compulsory like the other democratic nations who turnout is 90% and up. The US is one of the few democracies that require its citizens to register to vote. In most other democratic nations this is not a separate step. The government provides the polling location to each citizen as they comprised a listing of each citizen with the person’s name, age and address. The person just has to show up to the poll to vote, show identification and then are checked against that location’s list. The US leaves the registration to each citizen. A significant number of voters never take the initial step of bothering to register. And then those that take this step may show up to vote to find out there…
America is arguably the most influential nation in the world, but has one of the lowest voter turnouts. Less than 57% of the United States electorate does not vote to the hurdles that it takes to exercise a basic right. The reasons for voter apathy include not registering, inability to get to the polls and the type of election.…
Voting in America is difficult. There are many obstacles the potential voter has to run through in order to have their voice heard, and even, their candidate of choice may not win. They have to struggle with paperwork to get registered to vote, which also registers them for the eligible list of candidates for the jury pool, a task nobody wants anything to do with. Then after the hard paperwork and jury duty comes Election Day. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which leads to great confusion as to what day the elections are on. Even worse are the municipal elections which vary from town to town, and county to county, leaving masses of voters confused as to what day they have to go out and make their voices heard.…
In today’s society voting and our government is an abundance of the reason we have conflict within our country. Voting is a way to voice your opinion on whom you feel would do the best job at running our country. It is important to vote because it allows you to have a say in our future government, and how our country is going to be led. Many citizens in today’s time era, criticize our government and country. If these citizens did not voice their voting, then they can not criticize the way our government is run.…
In today’s society, now that we all have the opportunity to vote, it should be respected when someone does not want to participate in casting a ballot. There are numerous reason as to why someone would not want to vote. Americans conscious of how the system works, are already aware of the flood of "dark money" that routinely distorts the electoral process. Many, know that our democracy is a farce. We live in a plutocracy where money buys elections and wealth rules supreme. Political intellectuals have varied theories about why some potential voters do not trouble themselves to vote, especially in off-year or nonpresidential elections. A scholarly article published in the American Journal of Political Science, proposed that midterm elections lack a “wow” factor and that generally only political adherents bother to vote (Fulwood 2014) . Regardless of President Obamas lack of American support, his acumen as a Presidential candidate encouraged remarkable turnout among unlikely voters, especially those who are young, minority, and poor. That was because voting is an expression of hope, a belief that a citizen’s input into the system will yield social…
The essay shows me that voting in the United States is something that many people take for granted. Many of those individuals today are young adults that don’t find the need to vote. Most of them either bandwagon a majority of the time or don’t vote at all. I believe that everybody should be an informed voter. People should vote for a candidate that they both have the same views on topics and is also going to create jobs and continue to improve the…
In my personal opinion, I feel that many Americans don’t vote because they feel that their vote doesn’t matter. I vote because of President…