How Level of Education Affects Political Party Affiliation

The authors’ hypothesis in Democratic Practice and Democratic Theory states that requirements for voters exist to be followed but are difficult to follow, so only little of the electorate meet the requirements. The authors state that every voter should seek to have the requirements of great voters, including having great interest in politics, participating in discussions, and knowing much about politics. The authors declare that politicians have to accept the behavior of the voters. Also, even though the requirements are not met, the authors add that a positive side as the distribution of participation helps create

I have not had much interest in politics until recently. Before last year, I did not care for anything related to politics; I thought that it was all boring and had little to no affect on me on a personal level. I am more interested in politics nowadays. I know better now that it does affect me and I should care about it. I had learned about the concepts of political socialization, party identification, political tolerance, political trust, political efficacy in government class and how they affect my political beliefs. My personal political belief has been shaped into what it is today and is still being shaped because of those six concepts.

Unlike parties in many other countries, political parties in the U.S. are relatively weak in terms of their ability to mobilize voters to register and ultimately vote on election- day. This inability to mobilize voters has direct correlation to the fact that membership and affiliation in political

As citizens of the United State of America, one of our most important rights is that of which to vote. By voting, the general population has a say in who its leaders are. Votes for local, state, and even federal representatives directly reflect who the constituents want in office. However, America’s highest office is not elected by a vote of the people. Instead we use a confusing and outdated system called the Electoral College. Our president is not elected by the people, but by 538 electors who can legally vote for whomever they choose. Several times in our nations history an elector has voted against the people’s will. Three presidents have been elected into office by the electoral college and

Voting to elect government officials is a privilege of a democratic society. Every four years, in one of the most important events in U.S politics, millions of American citizens exercise their voting power by casting a ballot for a presidential candidate. However, these millions of cast votes elect a small group of state representatives known as the Electoral College, not the president of the United States. Under the current voting system the power to elect the president is solely the responsibility of the Electoral College not the people. Although the Electoral College has a rich history, it is an outdated voting system and should be replaced by National Popular Vote.

America was built on a foundation of freedom and rights. These rights are outlined in an attempt to let the average United States citizen’s voice be heard throughout the country. Voting in elections is the key to our democracy. Voting is a way that the people of the United States are able to voice their opinions about who they believe should lead the country; however, the founding fathers created the electoral college in order to protect the government against factions that could arise. The electoral college is a highly debated system that some Americans believe needs to be abolished.

As politics and government becomes more complex and involved, more effort is required to keep up with and understand it. As a result, many Americans have lost touch with current events and happenings. Therefore, when election time rolls around, many people lack enough information to develop an educated opinion and support a candidate with their vote, so they just do not vote at all. This lack of information is also related to the belief that one vote will not matter. People believe that their vote will not count, and are therefore following the news less and becoming out of touch with public affairs and politics (Is the System Broken?”). This lack of information is also more strongly apparent among the younger voting population. When interviewed

People within higher economic status are more likely to be politically active due to their work experience, social position, occupation, and education. All of these reasons are intertwined into the voter’s economic status. The voter’s political position within their community makes them more likely to be involved within politics. Work experience reflects a person's education; the better educated a person is the higher a person’s income is. In addition, a person's occupation establishes the voter within their economic category. A person social position is reflected by a person's income and position within their community.

In this theory, the independent variable is age and the dependent variable is turnout specifically for the Conservative party. In other words, mature adults defined as twenty-five year olds and onwards, were more likely to vote for the Conservative party than young adults, categorized as eighteen to twenty-four year olds. The possibility that the relationship is the other way round can be dismissed because an individual has to be at a particular age before they can vote. However, age is not the only factor which influences an individual’s decision to vote, from the literature review one could theorise that there is a relationship between education and age itself as a result, this has an effect on turnout rates for the Conservative party. In other words, individuals that go to university and get a degree tend develop economic values thus, making them

“Loosely defined, democratic participation refers to the processes by which citizens influence or control those who who make major decisions affecting them”. The major indicators of voting behavior and the commonly agreed upon influences include education, income, and age. Education is an important factor because it increases political awareness and knowledge. Income is important because it open up for a greater chance of political mobilization. Lastly, age brings political experience and exposure, leading to greater participation.

Many political science researchers study the forces that drive the vote. One of the earliest, and most well known, books about election studies is The American Voter. Written in 1960, the book tries to explain a model that describes what drives Americans to vote the way they do. The model suggests that social factors determine ones party identification, which determines one's issue positions and evaluation of candidate's characteristics. These forces all work together to determine how one will vote. This model may or may not still hold true today, as political researchers are not in agreement as to what exactly drives the vote. One thing that does remain true, however, is that factors such as social groups, party identification, issues,

There are various factors that influence how a voter will cast their choice in the U.S. elections. Party identification is the most top factor in a person's voting choice. Some voters are members of either the two majors political parties; the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. These party affiliations are usually determined by a person's influences from family, peers, media and the assessment of the candidates and the issues. Independents who are not affiliated with either party does not have a particular loyalty to any party. They vote mainly on the issues (Schmidt, Shelley, Bardes, 2011, p.193).

Many studies on different countries have established that the greater economic status of the individuals corresponds to greater political participation. Political commitment is quite rigidly subordinates to the following logic: a certain social and economic position that evokes a sense of social and political competence generates a certain level of political participation. Understanding political participation presupposes the ability to understand

The rational choice model assumed that voters would vote in favor of issues that would directly benefit themselves. The Bayesian model assumed that voters are progressive in thought, but used retrospection and past experiences to inform future voting behavior. Achen deduced that children behave similarly to their parents because they have similar socioeconomic statuses. Because children don’t necessarily have past political experiences, they rely on past experiences of their parents, which are theoretically relevant to the children’s future. Achen also discovered that young people have either the same party identification as their parents did, or they have no party identification at all. This is relevant because the children have not yet acquired enough knowledge about politics, or their adolescent party identification aligns with their parent’s party identification. Achen also revealed that as the children grow older and move away from the influence of their family, the children discover new information and are adept to make their own political decisions. In conclusion, Achen found that young voters were more likely to be partisan and independent, and partisanship was strongly correlated between children and their parents. In regards to Achen’s research, I find his reasoning logical and consistent. Overall, I elevate Achen’s research as plausible and consistent.

Empirical political behavior research has consistently observed a robust and positive relationship between education and political engagement. The notion that formal educational attainment is the primary mechanism behind many citizenship characteristics is largely uncontested. Education has consistently been found to increase political participation, electoral turnout, civic engagement, political knowledge, and democratic attitudes and opinions.