In one's democratic society, voting is, perhaps, the most major form of communication in telling how they feel about particular issues and viewpoints. Because of a ballot's potential power to change the course of public policy, it is important to make informed choices to make the best outcome in ultimate decisions, lest a care-free choice could yield unintended consequences. With candidates in mind, perhaps one of the best sources to examine their goals is their campaign website, as they tend to list initiatives that they wish to achieve and a plan on how to do so. Since a candidate's website is unlikely going to have biased opinions (other than what the candidate believes), voters can get a clear understanding of their overall ideals. A second choice is from an accredited media source. The media can give perspective and shine light upon lesser known facts of a candidate, with some of this information being something a candidate doesn't wish for the public to know. Of course, news sources such as Fox News and MSNBC tend to have more notable idealogical leanings than others, but nevertheless try to expose information of opposing candidates, allowing the public to formulate an overall opinion. In more broader terms, radio and television have also allowed for better access of debates; the public, in turn, getting to string information together.
Opinions are more ubiquitous now than they have ever been before. The increase in technology has created an environment where opinions are more easily shared then before. When a major event occurs, news sites race to see who can publish a Twitter reaction article first. The need to distinguish between worthwhile and non-worthwhile opinions becomes evident when one realizes that everyone, now more than ever, has the ability to distribute their opinions. Opinions expressed through public media are only worthwhile when they are based on factual evidence and remain relevant to the issues at hand. This encourages a degree of objectivity and discourages the individual from not being upfront about their intentions. When this criteria is followed, democratic
Media has completely evolved from what it was twenty years ago and now the media plays an extremely large role in politics. Mass media refers to the means for communicating to audiences. In the past, mass media would be considered newspapers, radios, and television announcements. Now, there are social media platforms and apps that deliver news and information to the people wherever they are. Even the current President has no qualms using such platforms as he is a frequent, and not so loved, user of the Twitter app. Almost every government agency and organization has their own website, or even their own twitter/instagram account. This provides the public easy access to information and updates regarding who they follow and what party they identify with. However, this leads to the problem of “newsworthiness”. Newsworthiness is the degree in which a story will likely appeal to the public. This can have very negative consequences as many journalists will write their pieces biasedly to attract the attention of fellow supporters. They will forgo the facts and instead, pick and choose what they want to include in their articles. This leads to a misinformed public, as they never receive the full
There are a vast number of critics of the American electoral system that bring up the argument that our voters do not have the knowledge or the interest to run a democracy successfully. These critics claim that these voters lack in judgement and skill which are two main key aspects needed to successfully run a form of government.
The Native vote, and Native political status could play key roles such as large “tribe votes” having many people vote for one candidate in the 2016 election. Thusly the Natives should not be disregarded in the election
Barrack Obama’s tenure as President of the United States is coming to a close and voters should understand how to gather reliable information on new candidates, such as Jeb Bush. Even though paying attention to all four major types of media platforms; digital, legacy, a candidates’ own media, and social media, creates a sound informative opinion on Republican Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, digital media provides voters with the most holistic view. The benefits of digital media, throughout the week of September 15th through the 22nd, created an opportunity to construct a different point of view on Bush and what he stands for.
Television in today’s world is vital for more than one type of situation. These situations can be an addition to entertainment, news, as well as politics. This combination, though, can have its faults as well as benefits. Television channels are owned by different brands of people such as democrats, republicans, and more. Media in politics can become biased based on the channels being viewed, or the commercials being distributed into the public. Due to this, television has made the presidential elections more unfair than just. As television introduces the image of the presidential candidates rather than their told plans and goals, we can gain a better understanding on their personal image rather than the principal of their reason for presidency.
Many women and African American men had long dreamed to have the right to vote. In many states, they could only vote if their state allowed them the privilege. The dedicated men and women fought for their right to vote in the Civil Rights Movement in the early and mid 1900s. Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment and the Voting Rights Act to give African Americans the rights to vote. It would have not occurred if the Civil Rights Movement had not taken place. The Nineteenth Amendment would not have occurred either if not for the Civil Rights Movement. The freedom to vote is now held by a majority because of the fight by the people involved in the Civil Rights Movement, and the African Americans and women who fought for their right to
Being able to cast my first vote in the 21st century is a privilege. My generation needs to accept their patriotic responsibility and vote because many reforms are needed in order to carry us into the new millennium. Voting reforms are necessary to inspire political participation for other modifications and adjustments needed in areas such as health care, education, and Social Security, all which we as young people will face in the future. Participation in elections is necessary to facilitate and enable progress, but our present day system of voting is expiring by frustrated Americans.
Voting has not always been as easy as it is today. It is interesting to examine how far America has progressed in its process of allowing different types of people to be able to vote. Voting was once aimed at a particular group of people, which were white males that owned their own property. Today, most people over the age of eighteen can vote, except for the mentally incompetent or people who have been convicted of major felonies in some states. The decline of voter participation has always been a debate in the public arena. According to McDonald and Popkin, it is “the most important, most familiar, most analyzed, and most conjectured trend in recent American political history (2001, 963)” The question is, how important is voter
Media is known as the “king maker” for many reasons, such as shaping candidates in audience’s perspective. Television has been a big influence in shaping voters choice and labeling political parties, even though some believe media information can be scant in regards to candidates. Media can be anything from television to social media networks and how many people think that media is a great influence, some also think it can be a problem. “It only takes 140 characters to damage a political campaign” in which Smith is referring to social media as being a problem. (Smith, K. 2011. Pg. 9) At the state and local levels party affiliation remains the most important. “In television age, journalist became the chief influence in the selection of candidates
Less than 50% of eligible voters will turn out to vote at national elections, and at the local elections there are less than 25%. There is a correlation between voting behavior and the demographic of those voting.
Candidates have a chance to present their ideas to the citizens through debates and other platforms that are available for the candidates. It provides a platform for the citizens to debate important issues with the candidates and among themselves.
In sharp contrast to past elections when candidates campaigned in-person, the 2016 election has been significantly mediated through mass media. With such a large influence on voters, the media not only determines which issues and events are salient in voters’ minds, but also how voters evaluate candidates. Moreover, media coverage, depending on its content, can influence whether voters think about candidates in terms of campaign issues or candidate attributes.
Voting systems all around the world serve more functions than to only elect representatives for the people. Elections create a sense of a democratic environment inside a country; they give accountability and legitimacy to the government in power, assuming it is the people’s voice that is being heard. In a world where most countries enjoy democratic governments and freedom and equality are encouraged, Canada’s current voting system is a nothing but disrespectful to these democratic values. Like in many post-colonial countries, the legacy of imperial regimes has made its way to the modern political system in Canada, still attacking central democratic principles . Canada has been using a single-member-plurality (SMP) electoral system, also
How presidential candidates present themselves in the media can be proven to impact election results dramatically. Political figure using social media did not start to become more common until after the 2008 election because Twitter and Facebook were just recently created, but by looking at data from the past two elections it shows that the news presidential candidates put on their social media can correlate with how people will decide to vote. After researching what topics political candidates post and how they present themselves in the media with election results it can be established that a candidate’s presence in social media can have an impact on how people might vote in an election. “By 2008 candidate websites were standard and campaigns