Low Voter Turnout in the United States Essay

Through knocked out(p) the Statesn history, there has been a steady decline in taker trailer truck. Not only has this been spite for the unite States, low taker outfit has been and always allow for be a threat to American Democracy. The concept of democracy is dep shuttingent on citizens actively participating in elections and suffrage to select representatives for public office. The disposal cannot be representative of the mass, unless the population elect its representatives. Voter turnout is a major indicator of how citizens view their electoral system, and whether or not they look at that the system is endureing. in that respect ar numerous factors that impede right to right to elector turnout, including citizens governmental attitudes, demographic factors, and the structure of the electoral system.The established registration process is matchless of the main causes of low voter turnout in the unite States. conflicting galore(postnominal) democracies, the Un ited States places the burden of registration on the individual (Vanishing Voter, 7). There be no penalties for citizens that do not register or vote in American elections. rough propose that requiring citizens to vote and imposing penalties on those who fail to do so will join on voter turnout. The quandary with this proposal is that it is fundamentally undemocratic. Citizens of democratic societies are promised the honest to vote. In guaranteeing the right to vote, citizens are guaranteed the right not to vote as well. There are better solutions to the problem of low voter turnout in the United States than enacting compulsory voting laws.America has not established a depicted object system of automatic registration procedures for voter registration differ from narrate to state. A universal system of voter registration would make it more(prenominal) than more simple for people to vote. The problem with this solution is that automatically registering people to vote does not imply that they will actually go out and vote. Six states film enacted a good solution, same sidereal day registration, which has been be to append voter turnout anywhere from 10 to 17 pct (Donovan, 182). Same day voter registration endures qualified citizens to register to vote on the day that elections are held. Because many states do not allow same day registration, many Americans do not take the magazine and apparent movement to register in the first place same day registration helps to operate thisproblem. The registration process and electoral system also creates a problem of convenience.Not only is the registration process inconvenient, resource Day itself is problematic. choice day is held on a Tuesday, impeding the majority of the population from voting due to work-related duties and responsibilities. The solution for this problem is to make Election Day a national holiday. If citizens did not contract the responsibility to be at work, they would be ofttimes m ore likely to find cartridge clip and take the effort to go out and vote. Other solutions have been offered, including extending the voting period, enacting absentee ballot systems, and voting by mail. While all of these opposite solutions have made it easier, cheaper and more convenient for citizens to vote, the costs do not in full outweigh the benefits. In any kind of early voting solution, the biggest link up is that early voters vote without knowing all of the significant information unavoidable to make a well-informed vote. Many occurrences and revelations come at the end of the campaigns and can no longer influence voters that have already voted and cannot vary their selection.A voters political attitude is the biggest indicator of whether or not he or she will vote. Interest in the election, mention over outcome, feelings of civic fleece, and political efficacy all affect how people vote (Wayne, 83). Throughout American history, there has been a decline in partizan identification. Party allegiance is a stimulus for voting. Since citizens are not as loyal to partisanship as they were in the past, they have less motivator to actually go out and vote in elections. As a group, independents are 12 percent less likely to vote than are strong partisans (Wayne, 83). Along with the decline in party identification, interest in political campaigns has been declining steadily overtime as well.In todays society, politics is forced to compete with so many other things in the media or at home for peoples attention. Media audiences are more evoke in human-interest and celebrity stories than they are in politics. Because of this, election coverage in the media has greatly declined. The medias coverage of the election is dominated by the use of ostracize advertising and attack journalism. The frequent use of negative advertising in the media has played a role in Americas declining voter turnout. These negative advertisements repel potential voters causing th em to digest interest in the political campaign. Along with negative advertising, the want of controversy between candidates has also decreased political interests and led to low voter turnout. showtime political efficacy has greatly reduced voter turnout in the United States. Voter efficacy is the belief that ones vote counts and that voters can change the way government works or public officials behave (Wayne, 83). There are many factors affecting voter efficacy, including education and income. Income plays a major role in voter turnout. With the magnification of poverty in the United States, the gap between the rich and the little is steadily growing. Citizens of lower income typically have lower voter efficacy. They are also less concerned with the outcome of the election than citizens of higher income levels, therefore, many of these people simply choose not to vote because they feel that they will not be affected by the outcome of the election. Income, education, and like lihood to vote are all positively correlated more educated citizens have higher income levels and are much more likely to vote.Education is the superior influence on voting behavior. It provides people with the skills for processing and evaluating information for perceiving differences among the parties, candidates, and issues and for relating these differences to personalized values and behavior (Wayne, 83). The more educated a citizen is, the more interested they are in the election and the more concerned they are with the outcome. improve citizens also have a great sense of civic pride and higher voter efficacy. All of these factors combined lead to a much higher likelihood of a person to actually turnout and vote.To increase political education, some propose conducting citizen education campaigns. The goal of these campaigns is to educate the people on the benefits and responsibility involved with voting. The main problem with this solution is that it is easier tell than don e. It is very hard to persuadenonvoters to take the time and make the effort to educate themselves on the reasons why they should vote. A better way to increase education and voter turnout is to encourage grassroots campaigns. These get-out-the-vote campaigns help touch off interest in elections with nonvoters and can influence them to vote, increasing voter turnout. uncomplete conducting citizen education campaigns nor encouraging grassroots campaigns can promise an increase in voter turnout, but two can help influencing citizens to vote and possibly lead to higher voter turnout in the United States.Low voter turnout is a big problem in the United States. According to Wayne, Low turnout suggests that people may be alienated, lack faith in the candidate and parties, think that the government is and will expect unresponsive to their needs and interests, and believe that they cannot achieve change through the electoral process (Wayne, 85). The voter turnout problem is very hard t o solve because low voter turnout itself leads to less voting. The numerous factors that impede voter turnout include citizens political attitudes, demographic factors, and the structure of the electoral system.Some of the impediments are structural, but the most influential impediments are caused by other factors, such as the media, political campaigns, and the American citizens. Overall, the benefits of increasing voter turnout greatly outweigh the costs of doing so. While some proposed solutions may work better than others, it is most important to change voters attitudes more or less politics and make it more convenient for Americans to both register and vote. Higher voter turnout will reverse the strict cycle of low voter turnout and help lead to a more representative democracy.Bibliography1. The Road to the White House 2008. 8th edition. Stephen J. Wayne. 20082. Reforming the res publica Democratic Institutions for the New America. Todd Donowan and Shaun Bowler. 2004