The Influence Of Voting In The United States

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

John Gottman asserts that within minutes of observing a couple, he can with 94% accuracy, predict whether their marriage will succeed and be happy or end in divorce. He bases this prediction on their ratio of positive to negative interactions between the couple. If he is correct, then using communication tools which increase positive interactions in a marriage will increase the chances of a successful marriage. No marriage is perfect, but there seems to be identifying markers that characterize marriages which end in divorce. John Gottman calls these indicators, “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” These four behaviors are criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling.

Within the United States of America 's democratic system, there are paths that representatives can follow in voting when it comes to the terms of how to best influence the living state of the government and the country. There are numerous ways that Congressional members can be influenced in regards to how they cast ballots, but the most prominent ones are found in constituent opinions, interest groups, and political parties in general. The Legislative Branch of government that Congress resides in was designed to hold the strongest amount of power, even with checks and balances of other Branches enabled, because it is to represent the Framers ' major goals (Ginsberg et al 2012, 41). With how this branch of the government was designed it holds many powers in regards to voting on major government issues, and is full of individuals who we place our trust in. However, the influences mentioned above can be done in both positive or negative ways, so what we must find and address are if the influences are for the greater or worsening of our existence, and if allowing these to continued is the proper way to achieve the best outcome in regards to decisions made for the country. Is it possible that there is a grandly best path for members to follow in deciding how to vote, or are these aforementioned influences the only way to truly decide such important decisions?

Factors such as competitiveness of upcoming elections and demographics play roles in determining voter turnout. Voting rates historically vary widely among states. In a given election year, many factors contribute to the number of state citizens going to the polls. In presidential elections, citizens of less competitive states go to the polls less often than in states where outcome is less certain. Election type also influences voter turnout. Fewer voters across all states turn out for primary elections and local elections. Among demographic factors, age and race influence voter turnout. Younger Americans and certain minorities, including Latin Americans and Asian-Americans, historically cast votes less frequently than older citizens,

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.

Only 53.6% of eligible voters vote, leaving 46.4% not voting (“Political Participation in the US”). This 46.4% of people do not believe their votes count. They believe that the Electoral College system cancels out their votes and that the government will not listen anyway. People think that nothing will change due to the incumbency rate in Congress. That is where the people do not see what is really happening. Americans do not vote enough, so they cannot possibly make a change in government when they are not exercising one of their most powerful rights. Citizens of other countries yearn for the right to vote and Americans who fought so hard for this right do not even use it. “US voting rates are among the lowest in the developed world” (“Political Participation in the US”). Young people should be concerned with this issue. Because America has a democratic form of government, political participation is necessary, everyone’s vote counts, and corrections in government can only be made by the people first.

Many Americans don't vote because they think their vote doesn't count. This is a common excuse that's rooted in the belief that the Electoral College chooses the President, not the voters. In reality, the popular vote in

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

On August 6, 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voters Rights Act. Signed into law during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, it overcame legal barriers from states and local government agencies aimed at blocking African Americans from voting; a right guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution

I am afraid of a lot of things, I am a very anxious person, my mind creates fearsome things all on it’s own. Last night, after I learned of the election results, I was afraid. Not disappointed, not dissatisfied, but genuinely afraid. I didn’t watch the election closely, neither me nor my parents were eligible to vote this year. I didn’t know much about either candidates or their policies, everything I know about this election came from things I heard from my parents, my friends, and random articles that I stumbled on by accident. Mostly I heard about scandals surrounding the election, naturally. And I heard a lot about Donald Trump, the way he talked about women, Latinos, African Americans, immigrants and all other minorities made it really surprising, at least for me, that he was able to go as far as he did in the election.

As a citizens in the US, as soon as we turn eighteen we have the right to vote, this means we have a say in who represents us in government and whether certain issues are passed or not. We can vote in both local and national elections ranging from who’s on our school board to whom the president will be. Since this is America, we are free to complain about how the USA is today, but do we do anything to change it? Most of the USA does not actually do anything, in our generation the USA has seen the lowest voter turnout since World War 2. Some people will complain that their vote does not count but in reality it does, the local elections are based solely on the majority of the people, and in national elections the elected representatives of

There could be so many reasons why the voter’s turnout is so low. Most of them decline, because they have no public interest for elections. Back before the Constitution was sign African American couldn’t vote, it was called white privileges and women did have the right to vote. So I thing that still plays a part in the African American communities. Then most of them feel that their vote does not matter anyway. American have no motivation to vote like they once did. The voter turnout in the United States is low due to the fact that voters either choose not to vote, they are not a citizenship, or they have been in prison, and or other legal barriers that makes them ineligibility. A large percentage of the individuals are not voting because political

As stated in The Struggle for Democracy, the U.S. is a representative democracy, also known as a republic (). In this system of government, unlike a direct democracy in which all citizens vote on all public matters, elected representatives govern the people. The U.S. system consists of three separate governing branches, executive, judicial, and legislative, which all hold checks and balances on one another. These checks and balances were meant to ensure the U.S. would be as democratic as possible and prohibit one branch from gaining too much power. Throughout America’s history, the system has predominantly been a success.

As stated previously, there is quite a low number of U.S. voters showing up to the polls, which damages the efficiency of the American democracy. United States was ranked 31st out 35 countries for number of voter turnout this last August. The last several decades of data shows only 53 percent of eligible voters showing up for U.S. presidential elections, compared to Belgium’s 87 percent or Turkey’s 84 percent voter turnout. The problem with small voter turnout is summed up by this quote “our legislature is a reflection of our voters, but our voters are not a reflection of our citizens.”

unique jargon of our chosen profession. What was to follow was an application of that which we had just survived.