Democratic Process: Differences Between The Voting Process

In the article “The Myth of the Vanishing Voter” by Michael P. McDonald and Samuel L. Popkin, it is argued that the decline in voter participation in national elections since 1972 is an illusion created by the Bureau of the Census because it uses the voting-age population to calculate voter turnout instead of calculating the population of citizens who are eligible to vote (2001, 963).

“From 1972 to 2012, citizens 18-29 turned out at a rate 15 to 20 points lower than citizens 30 years older” from this data we can conclude that age is a demographic that affects voter turnout (What Affects Voter Turnout). Voting laws such as those of identification or registration impact voter turnout. For example, the introduction of early voting was meant to increase voter turnout, but has in fact decreased turnout (What Affects Voter Turnout). In response to the argument that the system lowers voter turnout rate, one should take the many other variables that contribute to turnout into account.

This chapter reviews the much-discussed low voter turnout and the poor percentage of other forms of political participation in the United States. After reading and reviewing the material in this chapter, the student should be able to do each of the following:

The article that I chose to analyze discusses the area of voter turnout. Voter turnout is an area that is near and dear to me because the opportunity to voice our opinions through voting is a civil responsibility and ultimately our first opportunity to be involved in the political system. Voter turnout is not a topic that is new, but it has manifested itself more and more over the years, and it is now a huge topic of discussion in society. With different states instituting voting laws, voter turnout seems to be on the decline. Why is this so? How do voting laws cause a decline in voter turnout at the polls? The article that I chose explains the relationship between different voting laws and how they can affect voter turnout at the polls.

There are six types of voter participation but voting is by far the most common form of political participation. People participate in elections because of their strong sense of civil duty they have but many people tend not to because political parties aren’t as forceful in getting it’s members to vote than in other places. People that vote are usually educated, older, and have a higher income, Throughout the history of the United States o America, many of the citizens have been suppressed in regarding their right to vote. Even though most of the citizens, that are old enough, are eligible to vote there is still low voter turn out. Low voter turnout is most commonly explained by apathy among citizens and problems with registration. Campaigns become more personalistic when they are for primary elections, there is a reliance on the candidate’s image, and there is decline in party identification. There is a lot of strategy involved in political campaigns. The overall strategy should be to appeal to voters in a party for that party’s nomination even if it means becoming more radical so that way you can attract the main group of that party. Once the nomination is secured it is better to have more centrist views to convince those of the opposite party whose votes are wavering, to vote for the candidate. The main reasons that

The voter turnout has decreased; most of them are disadvantaged people. “The more voters the more representative the government”.

Low turnout rates in national election are a major problem caused by voter’s lack of motivation and lack of interest form the newer generations. Low turnout rates evolved into a major problem as the amount of voters had been on the a constant decline since the 1960s, where the Kennedy-Nixon race of 1960 peak at a 63% turnout and the latter elections fail to deliver such high rate (Patterson 2002, p. 4). The turnout then plunged to only 49% in the 1996 election due to the one-sided nature of the Clinton-Dole race, it was noted that 96.3 million Americans voted and 100.3 million opted to let it be (Patterson 2002, p. 4). This is a clear display to lack of motivation/interest from voters, the lopsided race made voting unattractive, nobody wanted to

Why is low voter turnout a concern? Simply put, non-participatory citizens are disengaged from an important aspect of political life. One’s decision to to participate can be linked to several issues. The concern facing the pattern of disengagement is that it lowers our collective

In the United States the rate of people who are allowed to vote has increased, however, the percentage of eligible voters going to the polls, has dropped. The presidential election is the only election that brings enough people out of their homes and to the polls. According to the

Based on that, this research was trying to investigate the causes of the decline using data from the Canada election conducted from 1968 to 2000. The researchers concentrated in age and education factor as classic socio-demographic factors that associated with voting. In addition,

Voter turnout in the United States is a method of examining who votes. High and low voter turnout is commonly associated with certain distinguishable categories, like age, sex, race, education, etc. For certain easily defined categories, like age or sex, it is not difficult to understand the relationship. Men typically vote one way and women typically vote another way; the older one gets the more he/she votes one way and the younger one is the more he/she votes another way. Education on the other hand, is not as distinctive as it would seem. The relationship between education level and voter turnout is essentially a given, however there is more to it. The education level of an individual can have two different measurements within the overall

In the 2012 United States Presidential election 58.2 percent of the registered voters turnout out to vote (IDEA). This figure is in stark contrast to many other wealthy democracies in the western world for the same election cycle (IDEA). This begs the question, why is voter turnout significantly lower in the US compared to the rest of the first world and other OECD countries? There are countless factors that could affect voter turnout, the most standard of which are based on socioeconomic status. But when considering only developed nations, more is at play in predicting turnout. Focus is turned to institutional factors and the effect election mechanisms, such as registration laws and party systems, have on political participation.

Voter Participation/turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Which varies by country based on sex, race, and religion. Also, age and citizenship are usually one the principles.

In a democracy, those who DON'T vote can affect the outcomes of elections. Voter turnout in American national elections is about 53%. Why do we have such a relatively low voter turnout? Describe and explain THREE factors that lead to low

The presidential election process comes down to starts with individuals announcing their candidacy and ultimately seeking to gain 270 electoral votes. Usually, candidates announces their intentions to run in the early months of an election year. Immediately following is a process called the primaries. During this time, candidates run against individuals in their own party. This full of things such as debates and speeches through the country. The point of the primary is to win a parties nomination. This leads up to each parties national convention which takes places at the end of the summer. During this time, a single candidate is selected from each party to run for president. The convention is also a time where party unity is displayed.