higher in the United States if it had European-style registration.” (Patterson, 2015 p.211). Studies have shown that states who allow voters to register on Election Day at polling places have a much greater percentage of turnout rates rather than states that require citizens to register two to three weeks ahead of time.
In addition, in order to prevent voter fraud, a number of states have made a law that requires citizens to have a photo ID issued by the government, but Democrats believe that it is only to prevent lower income individuals from voting who don’t have passports or photo IDs. The second systematic reason is due to the frequency of election. “The United States holds elections more often than other nations” (Patterson, 2015 p.214-215). In fact, elections are held two to three times as often as Europeans, because of this it is most likely for voters to not participate in all elections. The final reason is due to election scheduling. In America, elections are commonly held on Tuesday which requires adults who work and students eighteen years of age or older to find time before or after work/school to get to the …show more content…
polls.
2. The single-member district system of elections tend to promote a two-party system as a result of the plurality system because the public only chooses based on the popular vote. In a single-member district, political officials can win the position in office based on the majority vote. The system of plurality discourages minor parties from winning the majority vote, while proportional representation "enables smaller parties to compete for power" (Patterson, 2015 p.245) and have a chance at holding political office.
3. Interest groups are necessary, but also unloved. As they do things for what they believe is the greater good. For example, they wanted to cut the costs of agricultural programs as a component of a more extensive push to reduce government spending. Whereas farm lobbies were uniformly determined to protect their own benefits given to them by the government. In this case, you will end up with a win/lose situation because you can either side with the well-founded interests of farmers or the well-founded interests of taxpayers. These interest groups differ from political parties with the idea that they “concentrate on policies directly affecting their interests” (Patterson, 2015 p.269) because its goal is to influence the policies that affect it. Political parties, like groups, are a linkage mechanism. However, these parties address a broad range of issues in order to appeal to different blocs of voters. In addition, parties try to win elections.
4. The first function of the modern media is ‘The Signaling Function’, which serves in alerting the public to important developments at the earliest opportunity after they happen. These capacities are executed largely by wire services, daily newspapers, and television networks and sometimes through the Internet. The second function is ‘The Common-Carrier Function’. This function serves “as a conduit through which political leaders communicate with the public” (Patterson, 2015 p.310). For example, if a citizen does not know about a leader’s plan or actions, they cannot support or oppose them. In addition, if they want the public’s awareness and assistance, news coverage is required. ‘The Watchdog Function’ is third, which involves the press who will stand ready to expose those who break laws regarding legal, ethical, or performance standards. In regards to this, the U.S. news media have, for this reason, been called a fourth branch of government by unmasking abuse by those in power. The final is ‘The Partisan Function’, it acts as a supporter for a distinct outlook or interest. Mostly done by political leaders, organizations, and institutes.
5.
Elections should be held on weekends or even as national holidays because it would greatly increase voter turnout rates. For example, our presidential election turnout is averaged roughly around 60% which means around 3 out of 5 eligible citizens actually vote. I believe that the fact that we hold our elections on Tuesday is a major reason why our percentages average out so low. Reason being that people work and attend school. This means that they either have to try to get the day off, which would be difficult for workers because I’m sure that many others want that day off too and it’s a first come, first serve kind of thing. And for those who attend school, you would have to either not attend or leave early which means you will lose out on your education. Now if elections were held on a weekend or as a national holiday, you would have way more individuals who will have that additional time to get to the polls and vote because they will not be working or going to
school.