Brennan argues that one should not vote badly. I will be arguing in favor of Brennan’s argument. I will first start by stating the author’s argument, then I will propose objections to his argument. Brennan argue that one should obtain from voting if there vote will contribute to harmful activities. The author calls this contribution to harmful activities bad voting; he does make the distinction that someone does not vote badly if they have substantial evidence that the policy was good, but it ended up being harmful. The individual votes do not have a large enough impact to sway the outcome of the vote in a certain direction, the harm from bad voting is a collective effort among a group of voters. This argument does take into account voting …show more content…
Every person may not have the same level of these components, but it is present. Everyone will not know everything about the candidate they plan to vote for, they only know the high points of their campaign. According to the LA TIMES “It's a rare voter who carefully reads a candidate's position papers on every conceivable topic. Instead, we typically vote based on a candidate's stance on a subset of topics, assuming there will be a certain consistency on other topics…Another conscious component of political decision-making is voting for experience or competence, rather than a platform. This is so common that one study found that candidates judged to look more competent had won elections 68% of the time.” (Sapolsky) Especially, with how the media reports news about a particular candidate, they only report the parts of the campaign that the public would consider controversial. This bias also depends on the news station you are choosing to watch because the news reported is often swayed to reflect the views of a certain political party. For example, FOX NEWS is known for having republican views, MSNBC is known for having liberal views, and CNN is known for having democratic views. The question now becomes what is the threshold of irrationality, bias, ignorance or immoral belief that deems someone as a bad
The debate over compulsory vs. non-compulsory voting is a complex subject matter to say the least, that has sparked much controversy in recent times with almost all strongly in favor of one side of the argument and or the other. This highly polarized debate has sparked in popularity in recent times because of a quote by former president Barak Obama in which he said that “It would be transformative if everybody voted”. It is believed that if everyone voted that could and was eligible then the domination of hard core partisans within the political system would be in part quelled as the candidates went where the votes are, which would be away from the extremes. Moreover some studies show that mandatory voting decreases the rates of uninformed voters within an area as voting becomes more of a civic duty than right. While the institution of compulsory voting would have a short term effect of increasing the rate of uninformed voters,
The Quinnipiac University poll was done during early September to test the waters before the first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump. The sample size was roughly 960, supposedly voters from across the nation with a margin of error of +- 3.2 which isn’t horrible. The numbers look fine and because it was a nationwide poll, the possibility of getting a fair and accurate cross section of views is fairly high, that being said there are a few issues with this poll that cause me to be concerned with the accuracy of this poll for many reasons.
This period of our lives is a one bursting with challenging events and life-changing transitions, don’t you think? However testing this phase may be though, it's how we accept and counteract these alterations that ultimately opens up a deeper understanding of our world and self. J.C. Burke’s thought provoking novel, ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ and John Marsden and Matt Ottley’s heartbreaking picture book ‘Home and away’, address this concept of transition and their challenges associated as each protagonist undergoes a catastrophic journey surrounding a challenged attitude and the need for maturity development.
The author, David Doherty, in this article, “To Whom Do People Think Representatives Should Respond: Their District or the Country”, attempts to understand whether voters recognize the incentives in a representative democracy and reward legislators for prioritizing district preferences over the nations. In order to answer this question, the author performs two experiments by asking participants to examine legislators who supported or opposed a certain bill. By understanding people’s responses, political scientists are able to evaluate whether the accountability principle is constant with the mechanism built into Congress by the Constitution.
Since the dawn of mankind, clusters of innovations throughout history have allowed for societal progression at an explosive rate. While primarily fostering a centrifugal system of advancements; humans’ interests in expansion is spiraling out of control. Throughout history elements of collapse can be traced through civilizations and natural resources. Wright’s argument posits humans have hyperextended their utilization of resources at a rate that cannot be replenished, therein by setting up the world for the largest ecological collapse in history (Wright, 2004, pg. 130-131). Due to the cyclical process of past collapse and reformation humans have an advantage to rectify our current consumption rates ultimately avoiding a fate similar to past societies (Wright, 2004, pg. 131). As such Wright’s argument should frame larger discussions of responsible citizenship.
In our system of government we are privileged with the option to take part in the political process that runs the country. It is our right to vote that lets the people influence change in policy and set the guidelines that politicians must follow to be elected representatives. This precious ability, which is most coveted in most non-democratic countries, is taken for granted in our own.
One reason why Americans shouldn’t be required to vote is because voting without background information might lead to wrong decisions. Evidence supporting this reason is, in document G (New York Times) (Randy Cohen) states that people that are uninformed, will end up voting for something that doesn’t endorse their interests. This evidence helps explain
So, it is up to the 60,000,000 that do vote, to make decisions and, decide what would be suitable for the lacking 40,000,000. Ultimately what Schattschneider is saying is that “conflict, competition, leadership, and organization are the essence of democratic politics.” He also believes that people are basically weak if the political enterprise is not competitive. Above all else, “conflict, competition, organization, leadership, and responsibility are the ingredients of a working definition of
A strong democratic government rest on citizens exercising their power of voting. Even though in many countries including United States, entitled voters don’t vote during Presidential Elections. This paper will explain that Federal Voting should be mandatory in United States. Many people in United States try their best to stay away from political affairs not realizing the importance politics. Voting is one of the most common ways to get involved in politics. Firstly this paper will state the main problems for the non-voters. Moving forward, why it is necessary and important to vote? And lastly the outcomes if people doesn’t voted. Votes determine who will be responsible in considering laws and their enforcement to all the Americans. By this
Voting plays an important role in the modern lives that can easily shape the whole world. While some people believe that voting should be voluntary, I believe that voting should be mandatory for more social benefits. This essay will discuss the reasons why voting should be compulsory.
This documentary is an illustrated talk on climate by Al Gore. He wants to show the public the increasing, detrimental effects global warming is having on our planet. The atmosphere of the earth is being changed and thickened by carbon dioxide and carbon emissions, which is causing global warming. Instead of the heat escaping the earth through the atmosphere, it is being held in, heating the planet.
Shopping for car insurance is one of the least popular activities for car owners, since it can be a very long, boring, and tedious task. It doesn't involve just calling up the first insurance company in the phone book and taking their offer, but involves shopping around through various companies and requesting a free car insurance quote. Since car insurance is required for almost every licensed driver in the United States, it is important to shop around for the best deal on the best type of coverage.
In the case that politicians do not live up to the ideals and criteria they were chosen for, a merit of democracy is that it allows the citizenry to punish these officials – not necessarily through extreme forms like impeachment, but perhaps by simply electing someone else in the forthcoming election. While, as previously addressed, not all participants in the election process vote based on truthful information, some citizens do. It must be remembered that not only those in authority
What stopped you from dropping a dime in the coin slot at the corner telephone booth? Did you read the love letter from your girlfriend? The form of writing romantic letters has almost become a thing of the past. The reality, most of us have not visited the U.S. Post office since the price of a stamp was 45¢. The art of casual conversation, a cup of java or tea in the morning has taken a new direction. We are left with little in common between coworkers, friends, and family for lack of talking with one another. Additionally, there may be an increase in worker productivity and a decrease in our ability to speak and write proper English. Very few will enjoy the job of Administrative Assistant to the President because the automated systems will do the work. For example, the access to free online templates and the convenience of pre-filled forms that only require you to fill in your name and signature. Will someone 's job be eliminated because of free online templates? What happened to relationships by socialization at house parties, coffee bars, gatherings at restaurants, and book clubs with people who share a common interest? People held parties to nurture and keep relationships alive, established specific groups such as poker or chess clubs. Technology modifies how we write, speak, and conduct relationships. Socially, it has created numerous outlets for us to communicate with one another, from distant places. Technology has
III. Connect: We live in a democracy, so voting is our right it is important to vote for what we believe is right or wrong.