Voter Participation in Elections - Research Paper Example

Age and Citizenship are usually among the criteria used in most of the countries where a bar is set as a limitation for ones right to vote. In the past few decades, voter’s turnout had been increasing but recently, the turnouts have gone down in most of the world’s conventional democracies (Franklin, 2004). Decline in the poll turnout is sometimes considered posing a problem in many countries. The problems range from economic to cultural, demographical to technological. Institutional factors are also part and parcel of a failed voter’s turnout (Milner, 2007).

The political class has in most cases carried the blame on the topic of low turnout. This is because whenever they are elected to public office, they don’t do enough to ensure that they fulfill the will of the people. This is much time is as a result of matters of corruption due to the lack of transparency in their leadership. Repeated lack of transparency and accountability, and massive corruptions in the government elective office even after the change of leadership from time to time demoralizes the voters and them, therefore, don’t see the need of participating any more in the subsequent elections.

Therefore, the voter’s turnout decreases with time. If some reforms concerning the holders of political institution are not taken to consideration, the voter’s turnout will continue to diminish year after year, from one election to another. Declining participation in elections results to some of the more common problems affecting the majority of the citizens of modern democratic federal Government. The shortage experienced can also be associated to a bigger problem on health of its democratic system which results from a deteriorating turnout in major decision making polls of a country.

If the social and political forces that are driving turnout down are of a long term, the problem of low voter participation