Voter Turnout Decline in the United States

2612 Words6 Pages

The United States national elections have been experiencing a steady decline of eligible voters showing up to vote. This steady decline has been ongoing since experiencing a significant increase in voter turnout from 1948 through 1960. Over the years there has been significant, meticulous research done to try to pinpoint the cause of the decline in voter turnout over years. All of this research has led to the production of an enormous number of literatures written on the perceived causes. The vast amount of literature produced has led to a number of competing explanations about this decline. The quest for the answer to the question of, why this decline in voter turnout, is very important for an overwhelming majority of Americans and our democratic system because the people/voters can only truly be represented by our government if all eligible voters go out and vote. For this paper I will examine four theories that attempt to explain the decline. The four theories that I will discuss are voting barriers, campaign contributions, negative campaign advertising, and finally the cultural explanation. However, through thorough exploration and critiques of the strengths and weaknesses of these four theories, we will find that the cultural explanation theory is currently the most persuasive theory in the group. Finally, I will also explore some reasons as to why citizens do vote as well. Before getting into these theories I feel it is important to provide a few important definitions, as well as, some important information to assure we are all on the same page. First, I would like to address the term, voter turnout. According to the Merriam- Webster dictionary (voter) turnout is the number of people who go to or participate in s... ... middle of paper ... ...ons Declining Across the Democratic World?." eInternational Relations RSS. N.p., 1 Sept. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2013. . Holder, Kelly. "Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2004." US Census Bureau. N.p., 1 Mar. 2006. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. . Samples, John. "Three Myths about Voter Turnout." Political Analysis. N.p., 14 Sept. 2004. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. . "The Decline in Voter Turnout." Bureau of Census. N.p., 1 Nov. 1991. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. . Brader, Ted. 2005. Campaigning for Hearts and Minds: How Political Ads Use Emotion to Sway the Electorate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Ch. 6.

Show More
Related

  • Explain the low turnout in U.S. elections.

    1742 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Miller light and bud light…either way you end up with a mighty weak beer!" This is how Jim Hightower (a Texan populist speaker) described the choices that the U.S. electorate had in the 2000 elections. This insinuates that there is a clear lack of distinction between the parties. Along with numerous others, this is one of the reasons why the turnout is so low in the U.S. elections. In trying to explain the low figures at the U.S. elections, analysts have called American voters apathetic to indifferent to downright lazy. I disagree that the 50% (in recent elections) of voters that fail to turnout to vote are lazy and that they have just reason not too. I will also show that the problem lies within the system itself in that the institutional arrangements, electoral and governmental, do not create an environment that is conducive to mass participation. I will address these main issues and several others that have an effect on voter participation. In doing so I will compare America to other established democracies.

    Read More

  • Power Struggles in Capitalist Democracies and the Fate of American Labor Unions

    3479 Words  | 7 Pages

    Piven, Frances Fox and Richard A. Cloward. Why Americans Don't Vote. New York: Pantheon, 1989.

    Read More

  • Democratic Deficit in Canada

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ibid. Is it a sham? Ibid. Is it a sham? Tony Coulson, “Voter Turnout in Canada: Findings from the 1997 Canadian Elections Study,”Electoral Insight, 1:2 (November 1999), 18-23.

    Read More

  • Canada's Electoral System

    1906 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pammett, J., & LeDuc, L. (2003). Explaining turnout decline in Canadian federal elections: A survey of non-voters. Elections Canada, 40.

    Read More

  • Youth Voter Turnout in Canada

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pammett, Jon, and Lawrence LeDuc. 2003. Explaining the Turnout Decline in Canadian Federal Elections: A New Survey of Non-Voters. Ottawa: Elections Canada.

    Read More

  • Mimes of America: Voting in Texas

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    Voter turnout, according to the text, “. . .means the portion of the eligible citizens who actually cast ballots--not the portion of those registered, . . . (142).” Data reveals that the voter turnout of Texas is relatively lower than that of the United States as a whole. During presidential elections, voter turnout is higher than that of state and local elections. For example, the text states that in the 2008 presidential balloting, Texas voter turnout was about eight percentage points below the national turnout level(142). However, the voter turnout of the United States compared to that of other countries is lower than the global level. In a graph presented for voter turnout rate of registered voters, the United States is located on the bottom of the list. From U.S News, Flock states,“The U.S has one of the lowest voter turnout rates of any rich democracy in the world(Flock).” Factors that influence voting around the world, for example, may be the choice to submit a vote online, such as in India, rather than going into a v...

    Read More

  • Voter Participation in the United States

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    Teixeira, Ruy A. Why Americans Don't Vote: Turnout Decline in the United States, 1960-1984. New York: Greenwood, 1987. Print.

    Read More

  • Everyone Has the Right and Obligation to Vote in America

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...eople not voting! Americans are becoming less educated on the issues that they are facing as well as the candidates running at the time of office. However, according Longley (2011) ”Still, 93 percent of infrequent voters agreed that voting is an important part of being a good citizen and 81 percent of nonvoters agreed it is an important way to voice their opinions on issues that affect their families and communities” (pg. 1).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Electoral College

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    Voter turnout in the United States is always low compared to most other advanced nations of the world. Voter turnout varies from state to state, and one state may have less electoral votes but a higher number of people voting. This certainly gives the more populous states an advantage in the electoral process, because even if few people vote their votes carry a lot more weight (Best 207). People often site the Electoral College as a reason they do not vote, because if you vote fo...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Ohio's Voting System

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    When America was first established, they had the highest voting turnouts ever in American history. Ever since, America’s voting turn-out has dropped (Fortin). The reason for the high turn outs were because American colonists wanted change from the British’s electoral system. As history writes, American colonist rebel and over time becomes one of the greatest countries ever. Today, Americans are one of the worst countries in vote to registration as they rank 120 in the world (Pintor). Over the summer, I got to learn more about Ohio’s electoral system and voting turn outs in a first hand experience. A decreasing number of voting to registration is not only a national problem, but a local issue as well and there are creative ideas in fixing these

    Read More

  • Medicare and Medicaid

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    middle of paper ... ...//permanent.access.gpo.gov /lps70995/state.gov/etexts/oecon/index.htm File, T. & Crissey, S. (2010 ). Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2008 – Population Characteristics. Retrieved August 21, 2010 from http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p20-562. “Medicare and the New Health Care Law — What it Means for You.” (2010).

    Read More

  • Improving Voter Turnout Essay

    505 Words  | 2 Pages

    The decline in voter participation consider by many scholars to start shortly after World War II, however between the years of 1960-1974 American voters started to lose trust of the national government. Ahead only of Italy in 1974 (Powell, 1986, p. 18) and dropped just below 10% up until 1980. However, trust was the least important of the four attitude variables (Powell, 1986, pp. 18-19). So the challenge is how best do we get better voter turnout not just solely when we elect a new President, but during the mid-term elections as well. Many Representatives (Democrats) would argue that our laws on registration are too strict and limit turnout of elderly, poor and minority voters. Party competition to mobilize lower class voters, for example

    Read More

  • Causes of War: Systemic vs. Domestic

    1789 Words  | 4 Pages

    Frieden, Jeffry A., David A. Lake, and Kenneth A. Schultz. World Politics. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. Print.

    Read More

  • Marginalisation of the Elderly in America

    3411 Words  | 7 Pages

    Vincent, Grayson W. and Victoria Velkoff. 2010. “United States Census.” Census.Gov. Retrieved May 2014 (https://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p25-1138.pdf).

    Read More

  • Civic Engagement: Voting, TV, and Efficacy

    1904 Words  | 4 Pages

    In sorting through much of the research on political opinions and voting very little is clear. Theorist and researchers differ on what is the major factor in the decline of voting in America. An influential idea provided by Robert Putnam was the increase in television watching and its effect on the American people. Others suggest that the growing economic inequality in American lives. But we are working with people who can be very surprising and strange as maybe the outcomes. I try to look at many factors that may indicate some reasons to what a portion of the population ...

    Read More

More about Voter Turnout Decline in the United States

Open Document