Participation in the Political Process
In Texas, there have been many concerns about voting and elections due to political changes in recent decade. Just like other Americans, Texas displays many of the same voting tendencies. It is important that one participate in the political process, political participation incorporates how citizens influence the selection of issues they are interested or political leaders. “Citizen’s actions are intended to solve public problems through political means” (American). Political participation is more than just pertaining to a certain party. Individuals can become involved in certain phases of the electoral process by participating in politics in many ways, either by voting, campaigning for candidates, and writing to their legislators. The media also plays a huge part in providing avenues for political participation.
The right to vote gives citizens the chance to participate in government, meaning that all citizens, who are 18 or older, can help decide who will be elected to a certain position of government. For example they can help decide who the state legislators, the governor, the lieutenant governor, and even judges will be. As a voting public citizens can also choose county and city officials, some of these include county commissioners, county judges, mayors, and city council members. Voters can also help make decisions about important key issues that are affecting their lives. Citizens vote on also vote on local laws and at the state level, citizens can even vote on amendments to the constitution.
“Voting is not only a right but also a civic responsibility” (Juneau). “When people do not vote, they do not help improve their government or their surroundings” (Juneau). Meaning that a citizen...
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...re are many types of special interest groups that represent business, agriculture, and labor unions. A list of others includes women; low income citizens, teachers and minority groups the special interest groups can be very powerful. People often join a political party because they agree with the platform of the party. “A political platform is a series of positions on political issues that is used to promote a particular political party or candidate is a collection of positions that the party supports” (Wise). The two major political parties in the United States are democratic and republican.
The news media has always made it easy for voters to stay informed. Either by newspapers, radio stations, or television they always display different elections and spend a lot of time covering them on the news. Books and magazines also can be valuable sources of information.
Texas residents have decisions of some sort almost every year, and in more than one case all through the 12 months. all through biennial in vogue races, the gigantic scope of workplaces and submissions brings about phenomenally long tickets. electorate, confronted with tickets loaded down with applicant names and issues unforeseen to them, astonished why they ought to vote. Even though it is moderately simple to qualify and enroll to vote in Texas, the genuine example of voting in the state recommends critical boundaries, and maybe an absence of adequate impetus, to voting. The necessities for voting in Texas are straightforward and few.
An issue in Texas today is whether the public have sufficient control over the executive branch of Texas government. Texas has a plural executive, which mean the public not only elects the Lieutenant Governor, but also the Attorney General, Comptroller, Land Commissioner, and Agricultural Commissioner (Benson, Clinkscale, and Giardino 216). These elections add significantly to the “long ballet” that the public can vote for. Some argue that because there are so many to vote for, people cannot adequately vote for the positions. The research and attention needed to stay up to date on the elections can steer people away from voting. Many people vote for the governor and the lieutenant governor because of the title and how high the positions are.
The right to vote for non-citizens has become an increasingly controversial topic due to the strong and often divisive opinions of permanent Canadian residents. The capacity to vote is one of the most important and valued freedoms granted to individuals. Although the acceptance of non-citizen resident voting is frequently encouraged in order to propel self-governing justice and immigrant inclusion, opponents claim that it is in a nation’s best interest to delay voting rights to non-citizens. According to this claim, by preserving voting rights to citizens, non-citizens would have the social responsibility to actively learn the essential community services and self-ruled obligations necessary to earn their citizenship. In spite of this claim, non-citizens should be allowed to vote because the right to vote offers immigrants a more welcomed chance to contribute in the decision-making processes that take place in Canadian legislature. Seeing that this legislature administrates the rights and freedoms of the immigrant populations, it would only be just if immigrants had the right to elect candidates who spoke on behalf of their best interests.
It is our civic right and duty to actively participate in governmental affairs. This recent election really highlighted the divide in opinion regarding the importance of governmental participation. “To many, our democratic system seems so broken that they have simply lost faith that their participation could really matter,” West writes in his essay entitled The Deep Democratic Tradition in America. Young people feel unimportant and irrelevant, which explains the lack in turnout from young voters ages 18-29. However, it wasn’t just young voters that didn’t turnout. Millions of eligible voters didn’t show up for the 2016 elections. A democracy without active participants is a democracy bound for
Among the many ways Americans can participate in politics, voting is considered one of the most common and important ways for Americans to get involved. The outcome of any election, especially at the national level, determines who will be making and enforcing the laws that all Americans must abide by. With this in mind one might assume that all Americans are active voters, but studies show the voter turnout is actually astonishingly low. With this unsettling trend it is important to know what statistics say about voter turnout as was as the four major factors that influence participation: Socioeconomic status, education, political environment, and state electoral laws, in order to help boost turnout in future elections.
Texas’s political culture is conservative. With low voting turnout, the belief in a limited role for government in response to social change will not be changed, so for the people who do not participate in election, they absolutely lose their opportunities for transformation.
Voter turnout has significantly dropped from 75 %-85% in during the 19th century to fewer than 55% in modern day elections as written by Pierce Lewis of American Demographics (Page 20). The result of low voter turnout reveals a broad dissatisfaction and unconcerning attitude towards politics from America's citizens. The main cause for this public attitude in current voting is the news media. What better place is there to display all the events of pre-election activities?
In fact, according to Elections Canada, during the 2011 federal elections, only 61.1% of Canadians exerted their duty as citizen. Hence, some think compulsory voting can remediate the situation. However, mandatory voting is what really could hurt democracy. By forcing every eligible voter to go to the polls, misinformed voters will randomly cast their ballot. Sceptics may believe that by fining individuals who refuse to go to the polls, there will be less ignorant voters. For example, in Australia, where voting is compulsory, Australians who do not cast their ballots have to “pay a 20$ penalty” (Australian Electoral Commission). However, by financially penalising citizens who do not exert their duty, many will be so dissatisfied by the incumbent government that they will simply vote for a party that would not make voting an obligation. These people would ignore the party’s other policies instead of being informed on all the challenges that the country faces and how each party plans on solving them. Nonetheless, the elections are an occasion to elect a leader whose ideologies on many aspects, from immigration to the environment, matches the voter’s most. As a responsible voter, one has to know the policies of each party and has to try to obtain enough “social-scientific knowledge to [assess] these positions” (Brennan 11), which takes a lot of time. Therefore, compulsory voting would make voters more informed, but only on a narrow aspect while ignoring the other issues that should be taken into consideration when choosing the party they will vote for. All in all, mandatory voting would hurt democracy despite the higher participation
Should we have the freedom to chose weather we vote or not? Currently the United States allows citizens not to vote, but some believe that this makes our politics undemocratic. Some think forcing people to vote is against the freedoms we have today. In the following essay, I will give the views of Arend Lijphart and Austin Ranney about these topics.
Voting is one of the citizens’ rights living in a country. In the past, not everyone can vote. Voting used to be for only white American men. However, our ancestors fought for that rights. Eventually, any American who are older than eighteen can vote, despite their race or gender. In addition, voter turnout is used to keep track of the voting. It is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Unfortunately, the voter turnout has been decreasing over time, and it means that there are less and fewer people who actually show up and vote. This essay will discuss the voter turnout in Harris County, Texas.
In today’s politics, interest groups play a large role in the government system. An interest Group is defined as 'an organized body of individuals who try to influence public policy.' This system is designed so that interest groups would be an instrument of public influence on politics to create changes, but would not threaten the government much. These organizations are either made up of people who represent a different organization or people who represent themselves. Interest groups represent the citizens’ interests and views, while expressing their own needs as well. They are the link between people and politics, giving a way for the public to voice their opinions. Members of interest groups use different tactics to basically impose their wants or needs onto the government by lobbying, educating, and campaigning.
In Canada, voting is a right. Citizens have the right to vote for whoever they want without restrictions or intimidation from an outside party. However, voting is a responsibility as well. It is important for people to participate in voting, because whoever gets elected holds the decisions for Canada. People elected in the government lead the country. In order for Canada to thrive, Canadian citizens need to participate in voting. People need to be involved, because Canada’s situation is held in their own hands during elections. They have to elect the leader who they deem to be the best for the country, someone who’d lead and guide its people to success.
For example, a farmer may contribute to an interest group that protects the interests of farmers or someone that is for women’s right may donate to a group that focuses on the equality of women and other factors like preventing violence towards them. There are a wide variety of different types of interest groups that focus on different factors such as, education, business, professions, minorities and civil rights, labor, agricultural, local government and policies, religion, and other public interests. Public interest groups focus on the betterment of society as a whole typically focusing on the environment or civil rights. Private interest groups focus on exclusively providing for their members and other like-minded individuals for example, one focused on say a teachers’ union. Not only do interest groups strive to influence public policy, they also educate the people on their specific issues and help communities elect people that are a benefit to their group.
In the past fifty years, the range of interest groups has grown enormously at the federal level. There are groups that have an impact on a broad range of policies and appointments. Today there are several kinds of interest groups present in Congress that fall into the categories of economic groups and non economic groups. The four main types of economic groups are business, labor, agricultural, and professional groups. These groups seek some type of economic gain for its members. The four main types of noneconomic groups are public interest, single-issue, ideological, and government groups. Non-economic groups fight for causes that will benefit everyone in society. Examples of interest groups include The American Medical Association (AMA), The American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) , National Rifle Association and the Sierra Club. There are many strategies used by interest groups to influence who serves in government, the shape of particular policies, and how laws are implemented. Five ways interest groups do so are by using lobbying, access, the electoral process, litigation and mobilizing public opinion.
Voting is defined as a formal expression of opinion or choice made by an individual or body of individuals, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. America was built on the single most important idea of democracy, a government ran by the people. In order for you, the people, to run the government, you have to vote. This allows you to first, have a voice as an American citizen, second, hold officials accountable for their decisions, and thirdly, have a say in important issues that affect your communities.