More handpicked essays just for you.
Youth role in politics and national development
Importance of youth participation in elections Essay
The youth's political and social interests that needs to be addressed in voting
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Youth role in politics and national development
America is the land of freedom where people have many rights such as the voluntary right to vote. Its model of democracy has been perfected by the people whom spend their time on election days to vote for what they believe in. Yet, it is shocking to know that the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds that vote has declined with each succeeding elections since 1972.” (Wells & Dudash p.1280.) This issue has been a thorn in our democratic system due to many the low turn out of youth voters. In order to fully understand why this problem persisted, we need to look at causes such as ineffective representation of the youth population and possible solution such as mandating a vote ballot on national elections.
In order to understand what causes this problem of low turn out, we need to understand the actual problem from the perspectives of the youth. Many authors have criticized the youth population for not voting but never bothered to approach it from a different perspective. I argue against this criticism because it is simply an outrageous claim by extremists who wish to place blames of bad government results on the youth population that did not vote in elections.
Let’s approach it from a mathematical viewpoint developed by William H. Riker and Peter Ordeshook in their path of understanding the reasons people vote in general. Their equation is simple, PB + D > C. In this equation, P represents affect of individual’s vote in an election and B is the “perceived benefit that would be received if that person's favored political party or candidate were elected.” The variable D represents what individuals gain from voting, such as social or personal. The last factor of the equation is C, representing the financial obligation, expen...
... middle of paper ...
...ent ID: 1302421291).
McClellan, C. (2008). Increase Youth Voters by Sharing Information. Policy Studies Journal, 36(4), 667-668. Retrieved March 14, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1692744571).
Priscilla Lewis Southwell, The politics of alienation: nonvoting and support for third-party candidates among 18-30-year-olds, The Social Science Journal, Volume 40, Issue 1, 2003, Pages 99-107, ISSN 0362-3319, DOI: 10.1016/S0362-3319(02)00261-6. Web. 13 Mar. 2011.
Scott D Wells & Elizabeth A Dudash. (2007). Wha'd'ya Know?: Examining Young Voters' Political Information and Efficacy in the 2004 Election. The American Behavioral Scientist, 50(9), 1280-1289. Retrieved March 14, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1302421441).
William H. Riker and Peter Ordeshook. (1968). “A Theory of the Calculus of Voting." American Political Science Review. 62:25-42.