In 2004, the election has been the “biggest” news of the year. In 2000, the presidential election was marred by turmoil and scandal over the Florida punch card votes and alleged racial discrimination acts against minorities at the polls. The article, “Poll: U.S. Voters Skeptical of Elections” revisits the horror of the 2000 election and examines the current position of voters, Republicans, and Democrats on the accuracy of our (the U.S.) voting methods. The article states that six out of every ten Republicans and persons surveyed believed that no clear winner will be determined by November 3, 2004 and seven out of every ten Democrats feel the same. In addition, one-half of the voters feared the results would be challenged in the Supreme Court. Both political parties, Democrats and Republicans, have filed lawsuits over a variety of complaints--ranging from how provisional ballots are counted to alleged fraud in voter registration. The article states that a majority say that they are confident the vote count in their own state will be accurate, but when Democrats, as a group are asked less than one-half of them say that they are “very confident” their state’s vote count will be accurate, while three-fourths of Republicans feel that their state’s vote count will be accurate. The article says that during the closing days of the campaign, close tabs are being kept on Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and New Mexico, which are all potential battleground states where a challenge to a close race might be lodged November 3, 2004. When reviewing the 2000 election and the Florida catastrophe more than one-half, 54 percent to be exact, thought that the vote count was unfair and inaccurate. The Democrats overwhelmingly say that the vote count was unfair and inaccurate while Republicans overwhelmingly say that the vote count was fair and accurate. Independents say by a 2-to-1 margin that it was not fair. The conclusion drawn by the article is that political and legal challenges far outweigh any other worries intended to disrupt the elections. For millions of Americans every vote no longer counts.
In political debates and elections the application of schemas, mental structures people use to organize their knowledge about the social world around themes or subjects and that influence the information people notice, think about, and remember, are very important in getting support, votes, and earning the trust of millions of Americans in Democracy and our processes.
Golden, A. L. (2001). Disputed ballots, partisan conflict, and constitutional uncertainty: The election of 2000 in historical context. The American Behavioral Scientist, 44(12), 2252-2268. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214769221?accountid=45049
In the wake of the 2016 general election, Michael Lind published a piece on The Smart Set entitled: Can Electoral Reform Save America? This piece centered around a single question on the ballot of a single state, question 5 in Maine, and the impact on electoral reform it could have for the country according to Lind. Using deconstruction, Lind analyzes the idea of a Ranked Choice polling system, rather than the first-past-the-post system that is currently in place in the United States. His allusions to the past as well as separate government entities globally, as well as a deconstruction of both polling systems and the impact they have (or could have) allows the reader to absorb information and produce their own personal opinion.
Explaining Policy Differences Using Political Culture. "West Texas A&M University. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. http://www.wtamu.edu/~jrausch/polcul.html "THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MILIEU OF TEXAS POLITICS."
The voter ID issue starts with certain laws that, in the US, require that a person show a form of official ID before they are allowed to register to vote. This issue has split both Republicans and Democrats. According to Kenneth Jost, “republicans say [voter-ID laws] are needed to prevent fraud and protect the integrity of elections. Democrats say the laws are not needed and are being pushed in order to reduce voting among groups that skew Democratic in elections especially Latinos and African Americans” (Jost, p. 171). Both of these perspectives are valid, and with an open mind, can both sides have important points about the validity and inclusion of elections. On one hand, it is crucial to prevent fraud and keep the elections free of error, otherwise the outcome could be an unfair ruling. On the other side of the argument, voter-ID laws can cause discrimination and prevent people from voting, also
Society cannot let factions become disenfranchised and lose their self determination. The United States, a country founded upon the ideals of freedom and individual prosperity, cannot hold unjust elections brought upon by the current dominant political party. President Johnson created a bipartisan effort to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, enriching democracy and continuing the American spirit of democratic values. Johnson united Congress with the simple message, “Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man.” (Johnson) Today, the citizens of the United States must push Congress formulate an oversight measure to fix voter
It was a sunny day in Florida, and as the votes were counted from the controversial “Butterfly Ballot”, George W. Bush was ahead of Al Gore by a tiny margin of votes. It was then seen that a staggering 1,500 votes went un-counted. As the people of America demanded a recount, the Bush Administration did not want a recount, because they knew they would lose the election. So they took the matter to the courts, and won. Until this day, no full recount has ever been done. It is also very suspicious that the winning candidates brother was governor of Florida.
To truly understand my “mental story” in its entirety, it is important to look back upon my mentality when I chose to take AP Government and also what I previously knew before my first day of class. Politics was never my subject of choice. When I toured Georgetown and almost chose to pursue it, I convinced myself that the political scene and Washington D.C was not all that interesting to me. However, as the political scene began to somehow consistently appear on nearly every television channel, I decided that government and politics were areas that I might find interest in. As a naïve sophomore, I decided I would dedicate my senior humanities to studying government because I lacked a great amount of knowledge. The information I did know was limited, however. I knew Political figures are in a constant pursuit of power, and that democracy is the rule by the people. On the other
... Issues and Inheritance in the Formation of Party Identification. American Journal of Political Science, 970-988. Oakes, P., Alexander, H., & John, T. (1994). Stereotyping and social reality.
their vote, and a hole is punched into a ballot where the space for the
...n lead to a party not to move towards the centre like imperfect knowledge. A conclusion can be drawn that, as in the case of many other general explanations about politics the Down’s model can only explain how parties align themselves in general elections to certain extent. Decisions made by political parties are indirectly made by humans and the way in which human behave and take action will never be explained by just one factor or model specially one that assumes that the human complexity can be simplified by economic .One possible field of further research would be to investigate, the different ways in which the use of new technologies and social media can give the political parties a clearer and more importantly a constant and interactive view of what the electorate think, based on the policies they discuss the most in social platforms like Twitter or Facebook.
A number of Americans fail to realize that when they vote they are not voting for the president and vice-president directly, but for electors who then cast their ballots in the Electoral College. Until the recent battle between Gov. George W. Bush and Vice-president Al Gore for the presidency, this new generation of American voters has never witnessed a controversial election. Historically, there have been problematic elections allowing voters to question this system. The Electoral College is now a process open to criticism and debate, specifically because many do not understand its origin or purpose today. On November 7, 2000, Election Day, I was excited to become an official voter. Considering myself mature, responsible, and finally of age to vote, I had mailed my registration, received my voter’s card, ready to become a participant in one of the most crucial events of the year. I was a faithful supporter of my candidate, crossing my fingers in hopes of victory. That night I watched CNN, eating my dinner and sipping a Diet Coke when the station announced Al Gore had won Florida, which held twenty-five electoral votes. Two hundred and seventy are needed to win, and presidential candidates Bush and Gore had switched leads all night.
Elazar, Daniel. "Explaining Policy Differences Using Political Culture." Reading. West Texas A&M University. Political Culture Handout. Dr. Dave Rausch, Teel Bivins Professor of Political Science. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. < http://www.wtamu.edu/~jrausch/polcul.html.>
On the spectrum of politics (or any other ideologically-based matter), personal opinions will inevitably vary from one extreme on the left to the opposite on the right. In a governing system such as that of the United States, where the population directly elects representatives to govern, the position a candidate holds on the spectrum pertaining to certain issues in relation to other candidates becomes increasingly important. Theoretically, two people coming from different backgrounds and different political parties should provide contrasting opinions on major issues, allowing an individual voter to clearly and easily see the difference between his options and choose which option would be best for himself and his country. According to the Median Value Theorem, however, in most cases, the candidate's personal views and priorities cannot be considered if a victorious election is the ultimate goal, leading to nearly identical candidates at the time of election. Although this theory contains flaws, both theoretically in the actual workings and ideologically in the results, it is still valid and important to today's political strategies.
The Political Parties Model in which politicians diverge ideologically to provide a cue of party affiliation, allowing voters to vote rationally using their habit of party identification. The Political Parties Model suggests that party labels clarify the political choices available to voters.
The changes in social media implied that many people got in touch with the political candidates either directly or indirectly. The people watched their potential leaders of the nation and were able to question them (Mutz 2001).