The US Voting System

From the very first elections held in the United States, there has always been a strong link between money and politics. During the first elections in the late 1700’s you had to be a white male landowner over the age of 21 in order to vote, meaning that you had to have money in order to have your vote counted. It seems today that we cannot go a day with out seeing campaign finance in the media, whether or not it is through advertisements for politicians in the media or asked to donate money to help let your favorite candidate win. Because campaign finance has always been on the back burner of political issues, there has hardly been any change to the large influence money has over the election process and politicians. While money has it’s

The American Electoral College is the most confusing part of the American government. In addition, Kenneth Davis, author of Don’t Know Much About History, noted, “Grown men turn weak and stammer when asked who makes up the Electoral College.” However, there will be an effort to clear this enigma up for those who “turn weak and stammer” (2011, p. 653). America’s election system is important because their citizens need to know what they are doing on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The Electoral College has an interesting structure, procedure, and history, while also serving America well.

If I had five minutes to speak with the President, I would speak to him about the current national policy on voting. Our country runs on a system of representative democracy; the country votes for who they wish to represent their interests. However, some demographics are far more likely to vote in all kinds of elections. This is due to many different factors, but a large cause of this is voter suppression. This is when, typically state, government puts in certain rules and regulations that make it difficult for certain kinds of demographics to vote. One of the largest contributents to voter suppression of the lower class is photo ID laws. I would suggest the President implement a policy that states that no voting laws can be passed to inhibit a person's ability

Presenting two forms of identification to cast a vote within the United States is an easy solution that would still allow the majority of the population to vote, and would also help eliminate the potential for voting fraud. Those opposing this law, are mainly Democrats that feel stricter ID requirements at the polls would “suppress the vote of segments of the population most likely to vote for Democrats, but also the least likely to have photo ID-racial minorities, the elderly, and the poor” (Ginsberg et all 328). The elderly, most likely would not possess an ID, as they have the least amount of need for one, however, other groups including the poor have a constant need for identification while living in the United States. Events and occurrences

In 1971 the twenty-sixth amendment brought down the voting age to eighteen for all states. Voting has gained some astonishing ground. From the picked few to everybody that meets the present voting essentials. Initially, the United States constitution had been controlled so that only white citizen men were qualified to vote. Equity has critically affected this law and today both genders have the right to vote. The principles of voting have changed consistently through many of the years. The fight for decency is still present today and has been exemplified already. With different dubiously discussions, it is always critical for any country to be made of values and rights. In spite of the way that it is seen that the US has accomplished full equity;

(1) Voting is one of the common actions in a democratic society. As citizens of the United States of America, most Americans have the freedom to vote on local and federal government officials that operate the country and make the laws to follow. (2) Most Americans have the right to vote during elections, and should vote to let their voices be heard, to change communities, and to honor the military.

The recently concluded national election cycle was defined by frenzied campaigning and feverish advertising blitzes that lasted for more than a year, as American citizens were once again charged with the enormous task of voting for their next leadership class. What began with our forefather's modest experiment in democratic governance, built upon a foundation of informed citizenry selecting candidates who best represented shared values on the relevant issues of the day, has since become slowly distorted by the pernicious influence of corporatized campaign funding. The American political apparatus has traditionally been the arena of the affluent, because "like almost every pursuit in this free-enterprise country, political campaigning is a business … and, as in many businesses, success often goes not to the entrepreneur who brings a product to market first but to the one who exploits it best" (McManus, 2010). While candidates on the local, state and federal level have always been beholden to major donors, modern elections were forever transformed from contests of relative merit to proverbial spending sprees after the notorious decision delivered by the Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

Voting in the United States is a process that has changed over time. The earliest votes inat America were cast at public elections. Sometimes people said their vote out loud. However, voters usually used paper ballots called "tickets." The tickets were printed from the political parties. Each ticket listed the name off that party's candidate. People voted through placing these tickets into ballot boxes. There were some major problems with this method. First, the tickets were often printed in color-coded paper. Voters put the tickets on a public ballot box, so their votes were not private. Second, people found ways to put more than one ticket into the box. Third, some tickets were printed in a way that confused voters. All three problems led

The American political system is one in which change occurs slowly and incrementally, if at all. This long-term stability prevents shortsighted populism from driving large-scale changes that potentially have long-term impacts. Thus, if the American political system is trending on a path that lends itself well to the fulfillment of the democratic ideals of equal voice, representation, majority rule, and minority protection the stability of the system allows it to continue along this path. However, when a number of these small, incremental changes reinforce one another toward an unequal or unresponsive system these trends are just as difficult to reverse.

This large outspending of the American electorate by corporations has caused “candidates (to) adjust their ideologies, or their levels of polarization, in response to the(ir) funding environment”, shifting the representation in government from the views people to the needs of corporations who are now almost solely responsible for funding elections (Espinoza 1). This shift in representation represents an immense threat to the citizens of the United States and to democracy as a whole, as politicians have now begun to adjust their views to fit that of wealthy campaign contributors to continue to win elections. If politicians continue to care more about catering to large campaign donors than to the people who elect them, the government is no longer a representative system for the people, but a subsidiary of corporate interest.

It has become a common misconception in today’s society that the American people are living comfortably under a system that promotes equal rights for everyone. Whether it be freedom of speech or economic freedom, the idea in America is that although everyone may not be in the same socio-economic class, everyone has the same opportunity to achieve the same goals. This isn’t necessarily the case. For one, America isn’t even a genuine democracy, it is a democratic-republic. And of these two governmental systems, America leans more towards the republic side of things. In a true democracy “the people decide policy matters directly--through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums.” On the contrary, in a republic “the people choose representatives who, in turn, make policy decisions on their behalf.” Although this is only a single factor as to what defines a democracy, one could argue that it is the most important aspect. The hard truth is that the people’s voice isn’t as prominent as many would hope to believe. Look at the presidential election. Although American’s are highly encouraged to vote, it is ultimately the electoral college that has the final say as to who becomes president. Although it is very

Of the many obstacles facing greater economic equality, none on the federal level is more important than the homogeneity of Congress. Specifically, the incredibly high percentage of legislators with a professional history. Their legislation reflects their background, and as such, tends to neglect the need of those in other classes. Coupled with business interests that change the policy-making process, governing has become increasingly unrepresentative of what a majority of Americans want out of their congressman. A shift to publicly funded elections will not only reduce the influence of big business in political campaigns and consequently limit their influence in pushing policy. More importantly, the transition would allow people of

I believe that the US senate representation have to have the same number of elected representatives for each region. Definitively, in the United States wealthy citizens are better represented than poor people, even though rich and poor individuals share the same political affiliation. Political inequality is when a policy benefits a group more than other. Usually, politic favoritisms or benefits are reflected in the richer citizens. Equal representation grows the functioning of a democratic system. In general, low income citizens have disadvantages regarding political practice; low income citizens do not vote as wealthy people, poor society does not participate in political activities as wealthy people. Poor individuals do not understand the process of policy and have not access to political resources, so they cannot express their point of views. Low income persons tend to live in marginal areas that are not supported by politicians. These population’s characteristics make that legislators hear more the wealthy group than the poor people; therefore, poor individuals are less well represented. Another disadvantage that does not support poor

The Democratic System in America was formed by the Founding Fathers by the voice of many people. The famous statement of Thomas Jefferson “All men are created equal” has influenced the American political system. Therefore, the Constitution of the United States was created in order to have the institutions check and balance powers, protect the basic rights of the people, serve the community and have liberty, which means the people has the freedom with very limited government control over the people. Today, American people have the right to choose their local, state and federal government, and their senators to represent in the Senate and the representatives of the House of Representatives. However, people have the voices in the Senate and the House of Representatives through their representatives

An election for the Chief of the United States happens every four years on Voting Day. It usually held the first Tuesday after every first Monday in the month of November. The following Presidential selection will be detained on November 3, in the year 2020.