Political Science Essay. Term 2. Considering The Experience

The voting rate in America has been very low the past few elections. There are many reasons people feel that people aren’t going to the polls to vote. For example so people believe that its because the people running for positions of power aren’t the the best so nobody votes. Other people believe that its or right as Americans to go to the polls on election day. Forcing People to go vote on election day is not democratic because we are given the freedom to do what we want.

Not many countries have compulsory voting, in fact approximately only 40 countries do, and around 160 do not. As said in Document D, “Italy has mandatory voting and punishes non-voters. Italy ranks low among western countries on political satisfaction”. The document then goes on to say that “Switzerland and the U.S have the lowest voter turnout for western democracies, but among the highest satisfaction rates with their political institutions”. It is proven that countries with required voting get low satisfaction rates from their citizens, and countries that give their citizens the choice leave their people more happy with their government. Also, according to Document E, voting is required in Peru, and a fine of 35 U.S dollars is enforced if you do not vote. For someone in Peru who probably does not make much money, it could be very tough to leave your job and miss out on pay to vote. Also a fine for someone who cannot make it to the ballot could lead to much governmental resentment. Systems like these would leave Americans very frustrated with their government, and it will be very inconvenient for a large population of the working

Firstly, Compulsory voting not only collects a large sample of data, but also gives a fair and honest representation of ideals and values people want their country to abide by. For instance, in U.S. Presidential Elections, voter turnouts were always significantly lower than its total eligible voting adult population. Presented throughout history, this causes discrepancies and conflict amongst people. When more and more people vote, communities can get together and agree on ideals such as Same-Sex Marriage or raising the minimum wage, making a powerful, lively, and public movement to change lives. This has been apparent throughout the U.S. as Same-Sex Marriage has been granted in the U.S. through communities getting

In recent years, society has noticed increasingly minute numbers of voters. Regardless of what is causing people to stay home, it is a big issue. Voting is a right, every citizen is entitled to having a voice in the government. We can choose to vote or we can choose to abstain. This is not an issue, until voting numbers are so low it is hard to even call elections. To help fix this, countries have implemented a system called "Compulsory Voting", or more blatantly put as "Mandatory Voting". This system would require all citizens (capable) to vote. On paper, this seems like a good idea. However, it is a removal of right. To have a right is to have an option. We as citizens have the right to almost anything we want. The Constitution gives us options. You wouldn't say we have the right to pay taxes. We are required to pay taxes. Obligations are not considered rights. Making the right to vote mandatory would be removing one keyword. RIGHT.

Voting is a right that was given to us by the democracy government system. I believe that when it comes to voting everybody participate in their civil duty much like jury duty, or doing your taxes if they are of age. Instead of giving U.S citizens the option to vote, making it mandatory to vote will ensure that everybody will have a say into how

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,

Mandatory voting in America should be implied in the political system. Countries such as Australia and Belgium have already enforced this law on its people, and have had great results in the increasing turnout of voters going to polls. In excess of seventy years in Australia, voters have been obliged to appear to survey Election Day. Disappointment to show up causes a fine of up to fifteen dollars. Australian races since mandatory voting was implemented the turnout has reached an amount of ninety percent and above. Australian citizens have gotten use to showing up to polls and voting that it is a common obligation in their lives. (Ornstein) Based on this statistic mandatory voting has a clear effect. It raises participation rates this would also prompt more Americans to pay attention to which candidate to vote for. Mandatory voting will help change the political system of the United States, which will lead to different political culture and ultimately increase voter-turnout. As well as engage the citizens of our nation to vote who they feel is necessary. Money is also a big issue in becoming a president or even getting people to notice a candidate. Billions of dollars go into these campaigns, but if mandatory voting was enforced, this would lower the amount of money spent tremendously candidates can focus on debates and talk about a right path for our nation. Overall, mandatory voting would create a stronger, smarter, and more democratic United States of America.

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.

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.

Our nation is created on democracy, it’s something we pride ourselves on. But how can we consider ourselves a democracy when people of our society don’t have the right to vote? Is punishing these people or protecting the outcome of particular elections worth sacrificing one of the central tenets of our country? What’s really more important to you: keeping people from voting or protecting our people’s rights?

Industrial Countries all over the world have seen a steady decline in voter participation; Great Britain is a great example of this. The country has witness turnout in elections falling slowly as time pass. However, the election of 2001 dropped the country from their average of 76% voter turnout to just a 59.4% turnout. Comparatively, Australia, a former colony of Britain, has enjoyed high and steady voter participation since 1924 because of the implementation of compulsory voting. This system has proven to be not only effective in bring voters to the polls, but also effective in improving Australia’s democracy. By evaluating these two countries with similar political structure; one can see the difference in compulsory voting turnouts

In “Race and Beyond: Why Young, Minority, and Low-Income Citizens Don’t Vote,” Sam Fulwood claims, “Regardless of whether a favored candidate won or popular ballot initiative passed, our nation suffered because of the number of people who didn’t vote at all” (par. 2). I agree with Sam Fulwood and I believe it is so unfortunate that Americans don’t use this right. Voting is one of the most valuable possessions that Americans are given and yet they do not use. Many of the countries around the world do not grant voting rights to their citizens. These countries either have a dictatorship or kingdom which prevents citizens from voting. People need to understand the sufferings of those people who struggled for this right. When the United States

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

In this essay, I would like to discuss the major obstacles to voting, recent changes to overcome voting barriers and the political influence of changed rules. Low turnout in the U.S. reflects that there are obstacles for people to voting and changes to overcome these obstacles may also bring new problems to different social groups. I will elaborate on these aspects in the following parts.

There is no denying that a substantial amount of the general public who are citizens are uneducated in regards to politics and policies, but only a fraction of them cast their votes on voting day. This is beneficial to the voting poll because voting is most efficient when it only contains well-informed