Voting in the United States - Term Paper Example

Voting Introduction Have you ever pondered over the fact that participating in a Grand Nationalelection is a very bigoted act? Undoubtedly, it is a bitter reality that value of the precious vote that you would cast, after having battled out the hindrances to reach the polling station, would be immeasurably minute. It was in the year 1960 when the world witnessed the most nail-biting election contest between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Mr. Kennedy’s margin of success over Nixon was characterized by 118,574 popular votes which clearly indicate that there were extremely low chances for single voter to influence the results of the 1960 elections which was in turn equivalent to 0.0000084336 (Medvic 48). On the other hand, the year 2000 elections gave mesmerizing chances to the dwellers of the four major counties of Florida to influence the result of the election with a relatively greater margin. However, you got to multiply these probable conditions by a minute probability through acknowledging yourself as a voter in a major county and you can be easily stunned to see the end result which is way smaller than 0.00000843355 with the exception that the triumphant contestant received less popular votes. Body Regardless of the above surprising figures that strike the ardent voters with awe, voting appears to be entirely irrational. It is time to realize that a single person’s vote does not have the power to change the outcome of the elections. You got to accept the reality that if your favorite candidate is going to lose or win, your so-called precious vote has got no part to play in his success or failure. The question remains unanswered that why do millions of people across the world take out time from their busy schedules to cast vote. I was too restless to know the strong desire of people for voting and a smart family member of mine expressed his views as, ‘what would happen if every one thought the way..? He further argued that democracy could be endangered if the masses of a country quit taking part in voting. To enlighten the dear readers with an important expression, this particular way of thinking is called ‘magical thinking’ I must add that it is a very mistaken belief when people start to develop strong, but unsound thoughts that their actions could have major influence on the life of others and others too will start behaving like they do. The power of magical thinking forces such individuals to participate in voting in order to evoke other individuals to do the same so that democracy can flourish (Howe 140). This appears to me very illogical and pathetic fallacy. You certainly should follow the path of magical thinking, but only if you are a very influential personality who can drive great traffic towards the polling stations otherwise you must refrain from adopting such a fallacious way of thinking. A close friend of mine who happens to be a political scientist believes that it is obligatory on every citizen to thrive democracy by using the power of voting. It is not just the case with the political scientists, but couple of friends of mine also believes that voting does not merely mean to influence the results of the elections. They say that voting is all about fulfilling your duty of a democrartic citizen (Roberts 18). Well, I would like to give greater knowledge to these obedient citizens that your reasoning fails on two solid grounds. First of all, a single citizen cannot contribute in the establishment of a thriving democracy as it is a matter of collective efforts. Failure in a democratic system is not prone to participation of citizens in voting, but there a combination of factors due to which democracy could collapse. Besides, if it is only a matter of fulfilling one’s civic duty as a democratic citizen then why do people not vote randomly? We see people rushing to the polling stations to vote for their favorite candidate with the strong desire to snub the opponent, but no one really recognizes voting as a part of their civic duty. These facts are enough to draw the acrimonious conclusion that voting is only meant to change the outcome of the elections rather than to urge the citizens to fulfill their civic duty. The other aspect upon which I have been researching for quite some time is that why do people hesitate to vote. In 1972, 26th amendment was introduced to the American Constitution, providing the right of voting to the 18-20 years old citizens. The questioned that popped up in many minds was that would these cheeky, young citizens participate rigorously in the voting. I also felt a bit restless during that period and so I went through the 15th and 19th amendment data to know the answer. The 15th amendment had provided the right of voting to the slaves and the blacks in America in 1870 while women were allowed to cast vote after 19th amendment was introduced to the Constitution. After having read the data and its impact, I realized that provision of voting rights does not really stimulate people to vote. This, however, appeared to me as a very complex issue and I resorted to Democracy in America a famous book written by Alexis de Tocqueville to gain more insight into this complex issue of voting (Tocqueville, 2004). Tocqueville was a young French author who observed the impact of political participation after the 1828 elections of President Andrew Jackson. It was this man, President Andrew Jackson, who highly encouraged the political participation in voting than any of his predecessors did. In his book, Tocqueville concluded that nothing could force a person to cast his vote than the self-interest (Tocqueville, 610). He identified that self-interest is major factor which evokes the desire in an individual for voting. Tocqueville further studied the human nature and the internal derive for voting. He explains that not every citizen personally takes interest in the affairs of the country. A great number of citizens have little knowledge as to how the country’s fate lies in the tender hands of the voters (American Political Science Association 2). Such voters are unable to ponder over that how his participation in voting can influence his private matters. Tocqueville analyzed the nature of humans in a democratic context and his revelations seem to be extremely vivid even after 150 years. A 27 years old construction worker in the state of Philadelphia surprised the reporter upon saying that a single person’s interest or vote in the Presidential election would certainly not make any difference. This statement supports Tocqueville’s idea that self-interest plays a chief role in conjuring up the desire for voting. People turn up in a great number to the polling stations because they are deeply interested to see their favorite political leader win. It seems that people whose interest lies in working to thrive democracy in country often takes help of voting. Conclusion Finally, it is somehow hard to understand why millions of voters don’t show up at the polling stations? A good number of such voters show great aversion to voting and hence they do not bother to participate in election contests. Fortunately, the ‘self-interest’ factor explains us that citizens who have a deep distrust on the motives of the political leaders refrain from using their right of voting to participate in the election contests. Besides, those who flinch from voting are actually happy with the way things are going. Well, there seems to be multiple reasons for not voting and all of them are pretty much complicated to understand. Works Cited American democracy in an age of rising inequality. Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association, 2004. Print. Howe, Paul. Citizens adrift: the democratic disengagement of young Canadians. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2010. Print. Medvic, Stephen K.. Campaigns and elections: players and processes. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Roberts, Daniel. "Why W e Don 't V ote: Low V oter T urnout in U .S . Presidential Elections." Tennessee Research And Creative Exchange. N.p., 1 May 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. . Tocqueville, Alexis de., and Arthur Goldhammer. Democracy in America. 1. print. ed. New York: Library of America, 2004. Print. Read More