Political Participation - Essay Example

Political participation Introduction Political participation derives from freedom to associate, assemble and take part in conduct of public affairs through voting. The citizens are allowed to register as political candidates, hold election campaigns or elect their representatives to public office. Full participation in elections leads to democratic ideals that enhance political stability, and high satisfaction with the ruling governments (Boehmke 45). A political election is a decision-making process whereby the citizens choose their own political representatives to hold constitutional public offices. Elections will reinforce the political stability and legitimacy of democracy in the country through allowing the citizens to exercise their fundamental rights of selecting their own representatives in several political offices. Accordingly, political elections contribute to self-actualization through confirmation of the basic rights of citizens and reinforcement of self-esteem among the population (Waters 119). Political elections entrench accountability in the management of public affairs and resources across the country. In addition, electoral process forces the candidates to outline their leadership capabilities including past records and future intentions thus acting as a forum for citizens to discuss their political needs and express their public opinion. Elections will provide public education to citizens and safeguard the democratic principles that aim at ensuring proper management of public affairs and full public participation ( Boehmke 234). Types of elections Referendums Referendum is a electoral process whereby voters express their wishes in regards to proposed legislation or government policy. Obligatory referendums involves statutes or legislation action that seeks approval of the citizens while optional referendum involves popular vote on laws that have been petitioned by a section of the citizens (Boehmke 79). Referendums are useful in advancing legislation in the country since the legislature refers public policy matters to the voters for approval such as tax law changes, changes to the state constitution and other less controversial matters that require the public opinion. Popular referendum is also used to repeal acts of the legislature and statutes through a petition that entails collecting sufficient signatures that require a popular vote for the law to be enacted. Lastly, advisory referendums are used by the legislature or governor in order to determine the public opinion, but the outcome of the vote is not binding. For instance, Rhode Island State governor used the advisory referendum in 2002 by asking the citizens to vote on whether or not they wanted to make the three branches of government co-equal, but the outcome of the results were not binding since the governor or legislature did not take any further action (Waters 213). Proponents of referendum assert that it represents a real form of democracy and enhances the political participation of the citizens in legislation process. Referendum will check the excesses of the government before the expiry of term of office and provides the solutions to controversial legislation and statutes. Accordingly, referendums are used to legitimize devolution of political power and unite divided political parties (Tierney 256). Initiatives An initiative is a proposal for a new law or constitutional amendment that entails petition through collection of signatures of certain percentage of citizens in the country. Initiatives to the people requires sufficient signatures that are submitted for a vote by the people at the ballot while initiatives to the legislature requires the legislatures to adopt an initiative as proposed without a vote by the people, reject, or refuse to act on the proposed initiative and place it on the ballot for citizens to vote. In addition, the legislature may approve an alternative to the proposed initiative (Boehmke 98). In the USA, 34 states have provided for initiative process with 18 states allowing for initiatives to propose constitutional amendments and 21 states with laws that allow for initiative to propose statutes. There are both direct and indirect initiatives depending on the nature of the proposed amendments. Direct initiative entails placing the proposal for a vote by the voters while indirect initiative entails placing the proposal to the legislature for passage as a law without placing it on the ballot for the voters (Tierney 198). A good example of use of ballot initiative is the success of Proposition 13 that was enacted by voters in California in 1978, and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court in 1992. The proposition capped the property taxes by reducing them by 57 percent thus leading to similar enactments in other States (Waters 229). Recall elections Recall elections is a political procedure that allows the citizens to replace or remove elected officials from public offices. A recall process is a political device that is used by various US states depending on the appropriate number of registered voter signatures required for a recall petition. In the case of California, the recall elections require a vote of yes or no and a list of candidates that have been nominated for the recall elections whereby the replacement candidate with majority votes is automatically elected to the office (Waters 269). Recall elections are used to remove incompetent elected officials from office or officials who have been accused of malpractices like corruption. Eighteen US states have allow for recall elections and recent example of recall is Governor Gray Davis who was replaced with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003 (Tierney 178). Conclusion Political participation enhances democracy and grants the citizens the right to elect their won public office representatives. Referendums, initiatives and recall elections enhance governance through proposals for new legislation, changes to statutes and removal of incompetent officials from office. Political process affirms the fundamental rights of citizens to self-governance and checks the excesses of the ruling government. Works cited: Boehmke, Frederick. The indirect effect of direct legislation: how institutions shape interest group systems. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. Tierney, Stephen. Constitutional referendums: the theory and practice of republican deliberation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Waters, Dane. The initiative and referendum Almanac. Carolina: Carolina Academic Press. Read More