Low Voter Turnout Essay

The Washington Post is one of the nation’s oldest newspaper platforms for writers to inform their audience about problems in our country. One of America’s traditional practices is its bureaucratic system of democracy. In Sandra O’ Connor and Roy Romer’s article “Not by Math Alone”, the authors’ appeal to logical reasoning and emotion persuades the audience about the lack of civic education for students in school. Through well-detailed statistics and data, the authors attempt to impose rationality upon their readers regarding the importance of student participation for the government. According to the last national civics assessment in 1998, about “two-thirds of 12th -graders scored below proficient” while only “9 percent could list…benefits

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).

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,

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.

To every political system there are many positives and negatives and one critique of compulsory voting systems is that informal and uninterested voting is increased. It has been advocated that compulsory voting brings a large amount of “uninterested voters” to the polls and in turn cast votes that are clearly inconsistent with their own political values compared to those who are more informed and motivated voluntary voters (Selb and Latchat, 2009). In this case the primary concern is when people are forced to vote they will either pick a candidate at random or spoil their ballot which consequently, does not make the outcome of the election representative of the people’s interests. If certain individuals are not interested in politics they should not be forced to contribute in one of the most salient political statements practiced in Canada (Selb and Latchat, 2009). They have the right to choose their level of political participation.

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.

The voter turnout rates can lead to a multitude of things like education and more accurate votes to the simple feel of completing a civic duty. The endgame of voter turnouts is the education of voters involved (Document F) as well as the accuracy of the vote being unquestionable (Document E). This increased voter turnout can lead to the connection of people through gathering, regardless of age (Document B). “...Civic virtue; it’s sentimentality,”(Document G). The previous quote shows that civic virtue can go a long way from not only yourself emotionally, but others too. Higher voter turnout rates cannot only improve a multitude of things in our country, but also can give our nation a legitimate name.

This shows that the perspective of the reluctant new voters represent that when given the power to vote, many are uneducated in what to look for when deciding what to vote for. In fact, the more education one has, the more they choose to vote. Compulsory voting would force teenagers who know they still have more to learn on the subject to make quick decisions. “You might as well urge the unpracticed to use power tools or Rollerblade” (Doc G).

“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.

In Margaret Adsett’s article on young voters in Canada, she discusses the growing problem of low youth involvement in politics. In the paper, she tries to explain why the number of young voters has gone down from 70 per cent to 40 per cent between 1970 and 2000.

With all this in mind, there is no way to deny the progress made by Canada in addressing the voter turnout issue in these 2015 elections and in order to keep this trend and even improve it, there are so many ways to encourage citizens for Canada to achieve a daily democracy contributing to an healthy political environment. Because of historical and situational factors, Canada had a democratic deficit manifested by discouragement and a lack of participation in political activities from citizens, that had lasted for one decade but now, times have changed and Canada is living a revolution with a higher participation in the 2015 elections that shows the clear will of Canadian citizens to get involved in political activities, act for the change and defend the democracy they cherish.

In the article “Not by Math Alone” published by the Washington Post, Sandra Day O’Connor and Roy Romer, uses rhetorical strategies such as appealing to logic and credible figures, through the help of factual evidence and reputable leaders, in which it supports the author’s concern of the youth not being well educated about their country’s government. The evidence used in the article aids in gaining the reader’s trust and helps accentuate on the need for more political and economic participation from the youth. As it states in the article, in the national civic assessment in 1998, “two-thirds of 12th –graders scored below proficient” and “only 9 percent” of the students could actually explain how they can positively affect their democracy. Although, in our modern societies, many of the adolescence are very nationalistic and loyal to their country, they still lack knowledge of what is really going on in our world and, because of this they are usually isolated from the events and issues that the U.S is facing.

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

Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines democracy "as a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by the people" (www.merriam-webster.com). But the one big problem is that "We the people" are not exercising their "supreme power" to determine the U.S. government. Less than half of the eligible electorate showed up at the polls for the 1996 U.S. presidential election. While lower turnout has marred previous presidential elections, 1996's voter turnout dipped below 50 percent for the first time in more than 30 years. It appears that the people's increasing cynicism about politicians that they lie to get elected and the perception that people have no respect or confidence in the

By making civic competence a central aim, the curriculum can emphasize the importance of educating students who are committed to the ideas and values of democracy. An understanding of civic ideals and practices is critical to full participation in society and is an essential component of education for citizenship. For example since civic competence has to rests on the commitment to democratic values, it requires that citizens have the ability to use their knowledge about their community, nation, and world to derive solution and solve real problems.