The Issue Of Political Participation

Many scholars believe that falling civic organization membership and the general decline in our Social Capital has negatively impacted voter turnout.” (Kaufmann. 145) To summarize, people in the United States are “less involved” with other groups and other people as a whole, so it is only logical to feel they would be less involved or interest in our political and governmental future.

Voting in elections is the most important form of participation in American politics. Even though this is true, America has a very low voter turnout. This is defined as the percentage of eligible voters who actually show up to vote. Only 6 out of 10 Americans vote in the presidential election, and it is even lower for midterm and local elections (Ginsberg, 306, 2013). Voter participation today is substantially lower than it was in the 19th century. Although, the number of people that could vote was lower than it is now, considering that women and other minorities were not allowed to vote until later in the century (Schulman, n.d). Age, gender, education, income, ethnicity, and religious affiliation all have differing effects on voter turnout rates. Education and income are the top factors that determine whether someone votes or not. Someone with a higher income and educational knowledge about voting are more likely to vote verses someone with a lower income and no education. If citizens do not have any knowledge about the voting process or candidates, they become discouraged and do not turnout to vote. Also, Texas is one of the states with the lowest voter turnout rates in the country and ranks in the bottom third of voter participation (Ginsberg, 821). Reasons for this are because Texas has a lower average age than the national average, and young citizens are more likely not to vote. Also, Texas has a political culture that is traditionalistic and individualistic. In a traditionalistic political culture, the political and economic elite discourage voting. In an individualistic political culture, the people choose not to vote because of “ real or perceived corruption in government” (Ginsberg, 821). Texas has a tradition of keeping a decentralized government, which causes numerous elections. Voters become overwhelmed with the

Voter turnouts in the U.S. are spectacularly low compared to most other democracies. Turnout has not reached over 70% in the last century while other developing nations and quite a few third world nations have registered higher turnouts. During the 2016 presidential election, only about 55.7% of the population cast their votes according to newly released Census Bureau figures. The U.S. trails far below compared to the other developed nations hovering over 80% which were, Belgium (87.2%), Sweden (82.6%) and Denmark (80.3%). How could this be? Is the U.S. political system built in a way where many people believe that their votes don’t matter or should compulsory voting be enforced? There are many factors that go into the results of voter turnouts in the U.S.

While reading a variety of political science articles I have found the conventional wisdom on a multitude of influences and their correlation with voter turnout. Generally what I found while reading is that there is often a motivational factor that causes a person to perform their civic duty by voting . My understanding of the conventional wisdom is that when there is some source of social pressure motivations, it often leads to an increase in voter turnout.

The right to vote has been an American pride and right since the beginning of this country. This right had to be fought for and amended to fit all men and women of all races. Though so many people had fought for this right and should be excited and open about excessing this right, it is not so. According to the Census Bureau in the 2016 presidential elections, the percentage of voter turnout was 55.7% of the voting-age population. This differs by age and race but conveniently this has been the product. The question rises why is voter turnout so low in America

Since the United States of America established itself as its own self-governing country, one of the things that caused it to be salient and stand out from other countries is its relentless insistence on functioning as a democracy. Wars and protests have occurred so that every type of people, whether it was women or African Americans, may be granted the right to vote. Having a say in the American government is an honor and a privilege bestowed upon American citizens when they reach the age of eighteen. However, in recent years, statistics have shown that voter turnout and participation in recent elections has been rapidly and steadily declining, causing the United States to have the lowest voter participation in the world (“Is the System

The citizens of the United States of America populate a very privileged nation relative to the majority of developing countries. Americans are able to exercise a multitude of rights. Despite having freedom to the most basic of rights, Americans do not take full advantage of their liberties. One such instance relates to American’s right to vote in elections. Presently, U.S citizens of differing heritage, skin color, gender, and social standing has the liberty to vote for the authoritative figures who will run their government at the local, state, and nationwide scale, yet very few U.S citizens are present at voting polls during off year elections. The cause of the nationwide absence at the polls is reflective of U.S. citizens’ distrust of the political system and their state of ignorance concerning current national issues.

The right to vote for American citizens is the fifteen amendment of the United States constitution. In this amendment, no citizen may be deny to vote base on color or race. For this, many more citizens of the United States are able to vote, even if they are a minority. However, the United States does not have a high turnout rate on elections. As a result, voter participation has an effect on public policies; additionally, Americans do not have a strong ethical duty to vote. Therefore, politicians have the power to change concepts in the government. Nonetheless, Americans do not make voting a larger concern as other citizens from other country to vote.

According to one common view, the quality of democracy depends upon the extent to which voters use their rights to vote and to take part in public life. It is healthy if memberships of political parties are large and active, and if attendance at political rallies is high, and so on. Some nations believe that it is essential to take part in political life, and that the state should encourage, and even oblige them to do so. For example, some countries consider that it is vital to ensure that a high proportion of eligible voters cast their ballots. Accordingly, they make voting compulsory, as in Australia. An alternative view suggests that it does not matter whether citizens actually participate in politics, but it is vital that they should have the right to do so, irrespective of whether they choose to use it. This is perhaps the case in the United States, where voter turnout hovers around an astounding fifty percent, which is lowest among all industrialized democracies (Roskin 113.)

One of these responsibilities is voting. Voting is an important tool that Americans use to choose their leaders and how they run the country, especially with the upcoming presidential election. Citizens should vote for the candidate they believe is best for them and for the nation. This goes hand in hand with our Freedom of Speech; if no Americans spoke out for what they believed to be true or voted for the candidate they wanted, and no one else did either, our country’s political system would collapse. Voting gives Americans the power to lead our nation to a better future than it’s current state. Sadly, many citizens do not vote due to lack of knowledge or, frankly, lack of likability of the political system in America. In the modern world that we live in, lack of knowledge is not a plausible excuse for not voting. There are many ways to find information about the candidates, and the media blasts stories about the candidates almost nonstop.

Being a local Southern Marylander during our most recent primary I am a personal witness of the fact that voter turnout is horribly low. I was able to get out from voting in less than 10 minutes. That is how vacant my local voting precinct was. Heck I even tried to encourage a couple of my closest friends to go out and vote but the majority of them did not want a thing to do with it. This common trend had me asking myself a question. Just why do so many American citizens seem so indifferent towards voting? With a complicated question like that comes multiple answers obviously. A mix of personal disinterest in voting and a general distrust for the American government has plagued the minds of mostly younger voters but also older voters. Others may go so far to believe that their vote may not be worth of anything when it comes down to it. When people do not go out and vote for these reasons, they are not helping anyone. It can even be argued that non-voting actually hurts this country more than anything.

The world is shaped by our political figures. Those who are in the House of Representatives, the Senate, or the White House control our nation. People often complain about our political leaders, but they know nothing of politics or how our government functions. Because they lack the knowledge of how government works, the general public is uninvolved with politics. For those who are involved, they chose representatives that meet their interests, rather than that of the majority. People should feel compelled to be active in our nation. What I mean by “being active” is that people actually understand events that have a direct or indirect impact on their way of life, and for people to vote. As a nation, we need as many people participation, if

The author also made valid points on why people should use their right to vote. He stated that “If you can vote and do not, you have no right to complain about the results and the policies you do not like.” (Page 11). There has been a dramatic decline in participating voters since the 1980s, which the author states here “Among that population in the U.S. that is eligible to vote, we rank next to last in voter participation among 21 industrial democratic nations of the world… In the 1980 presidential election 74,000,000 did not vote. In the 1988 presidential election 90,000,000 did not vote! It was the lowest since the 1924 election of Calvin Coolidge. It was worse in the 2000

First, I want to start by sharing my journey and how I became involved in politics. Early in life, I recognized America's economic disparity and I knew that this was a problem that could be solved and throughout the years that became my inspiration in politics. I attended Brooklyn college and after a year, I transferred to the University of Chicago. I then became involved in the civil rights movement during my university years. I was also a member of the congress of Racial Equality and participated in a sit-in against segregation of off-campus housing in 1962.

Citizen participation in the government is not a right given to all citizens worldwide. The model of democracy is often taken for granted by Americans, but the ability to elect government officials and voice opinions on government initiatives and referenda is an incredible opportunity in the United States of America. We, as citizens, have an ability to ignite change, reform the government, and build a country that we believe in and are proud of. Therefore, the right to vote should not be taken lightly. All people afforded this right should take full advantage of the opportunity and truly invest in the government. Political participation depends on multiple factors, one of the most influential being socioeconomic status.