Political Behavior - Research Paper Example

Political Behavior Introduction Presidential nominating convention is a forum held every four years in United s of America by all political parties who fields nominees for election procedures. The presidential election in the United States has been very vulnerable in last few decades. As compared to the initial presidential elections from 1944 onwards there has been a decreasing trend towards voter turn-out. In the year 1996 when Bill Clinton was elected as the president of United States the voter turnout was low compared to the general election proceedings. The aggregate voter turnout in the year 1996 was 54% of the total population of the United States. There was a demographic shift during this period regarding the voting parameters. There was an increase in female voters which was a good significance but male voter turnout went down drastically. Geographical areas and religion were main prospective of the demographic pattern in the 1996 election. In the year 2000 when George W Bush was elected as the president of United States the voter turnout was low but there was a slight increase in voters compared to the 1996 elections. The main strategies behind the election were social issues, interest of white working-class people. The political agenda to attract voters was tax cutting and proper response to minority calls. In the year 2008, United States political system had undergone a huge change when Barrack Obama was elected as the president. He is the first black president to be elected by the citizens of America. The voter turnout rose because of maximum black voters participating in the 2008 election. This shows that there was a demographic shift in the election held during the particular year. Thesis Statement “United States has lower voter turnout rates despite of being a role model among many other democratic countries”. Discussion In support to the thesis statement it can be said that United States of America despite of having a prestigious reputation among the democratic countries has low voter turnout rates in election phenomenon. It has been observed that there has been a down shift of voters in the recent times compared to voters in early decades. Every year the population of America is increasing hence voter turnout is also expected to increase at a similar rate however it is not happening despite of several strategies applied in the elections. The voter turnout in the election of 1961 was significantly low as compared to the general election procedure held in United States of America. As per ballot reports and analysis it has been observed that only 54% of the entire population participated in the election. This was terribly low because it is quite clear that only about a half of the population participated in their civil duty. Women voters were more compared to men in the particular year. There was increase in voters compared to previous elections during this year because of new laws in place which allowed registration on Election Day. For an example in some states like Wisconsin, Idaho, New Hampshire etc. citizens could apply for driving license and other government documents during election time. This led to registration of new voters and participation of more citizens in the election procedures. In this year about 12 million new voters were registered as per reports but did not make much difference because the population of United States had grown significantly. Moreover black voters had also increased from 1970 to 1996 because suppression was regarded as an illegal activity during this period and everyone were given free rights to vote for their candidates. However White voters did not turn up a relevant level. Hence only 54% of the entire population was reported to participate in the ballot. On the other hand in year 2000, voter turnout dropped by more than five million. There was no direct relevance between high voter turnout and high voter registration but in this year the Black citizens of United States There was no direct relevance between high voter turnout and high voter registration but in this year the Black citizens of United States lacked the interest of voting because of more White representatives compared to Black nominees. In the election of 2000 when George W Bush was elected; merely 2% of voters were increased and it was less compared to the rise in population. On the other hand the election held in the year 2008 showed some drastic changes in the voter’s behavior. According to ballot reports about 131 million citizens voted in the 2008 presidential election. There was an increase of 5 million voters compared to the election held in 2004. The main reason might be because of the first black nominee for president Barrack Obama. According to Census Bureau there was a participation of 2 million new voters from the Black community, @ million voters increased among the Hispanic voters and 600,000 Asian voters participated in the election. It had also been observed that most of the new voters ranged from 18 and 24 age group and when compared with the 2004 elections it has been recorded that there was an increase of voters from 47% to 55% of Black voters between the mentioned age group. The non-Hispanic White voters remained unchanged statistically. This shows that voter turnout increased during this year because of participation of many young voters who wanted Barrack Obama as the president of United States. There was a common trend in the demographic pattern in the elections held after 1996. There was an increase in voter turnout because of several factors. There was a positive shift of voters from non-Hispanic White voters to Hispanic voters and minor Black voters. Black voters participated in the elections held in the year 2000 and hence forth. Though the decrease of White voters was not a positive significance for American politics but the average percentage of voters had increased resulting in more participation of citizens in elections (Pierson, 2001). In the year 1996 about 10.8% of Black people voted for their candidates. The primary reason was the political structure. A nominee who wins an election has the ability to gain the entire power instead of having significant opponents who could stand against any political decisions. This had led to low voter turnout in the American politics. However compared to the elections that held in the year 2008 Black citizens and Hispanic citizens participated in large numbers because of more voting rights and favorable nominees that preserved their interest. Low voter turnout is not a positive feature for the political set-up of a democratic country because it does not help to form a healthy political set-up in a country. The nominees during the elections held after 1996 focused more on minority interest instead of every citizen’s interests hence it led to lower White voter turnout. Political parties and media play an important role in generating interest among voters. Political interest group applies new strategies every year in order to attract new voters towards their group and get a chance to win upcoming elections. In the year 1996, 2000 and 2008 also similar initiatives were taken by news and media. It has been observed that the campaigning costs have increased in last few decades. In the election of 1996 when Bill Clinton was elected as the president, there were three other nominees for the presidential election with major support (Lessing, 2013). It was observed that the expenditure behind advertising of political group and rallying concepts had changed drastically. In the year 2000 also political groups spent huge capitals behind promoting their political agendas. Gaining public interest has been the major target of political parties via advertising, campaigning, rallies, political themes and direct promotions. In the year 2008 there were similar developments however due to a different face among the nominees it was an election that came up with high voter turnout compared to previous elections. Media also played a huge role by broadcasting several facts and important conversations in front of people. It is expected that candidates should conduct a specified number of debates under a recommended format before receiving campaigning funds. Hence media and news has helped people to know about many situations that people might not be able to know otherwise. There is absolute interest among people before every presidential election. But because of lack of civil duty many people do not turn up. Mostly young generation do not seem to have much interest in election proceedings. Some of the important factors that impact voter turnout in elections are gender, age, and race and state environmental factors. In the election proceedings of United States these factors have major impact on voter turnout. In the 1996 election strong candidates who could win the election were all White people. Hence there was significantly low voter turnout from the Black Community. This is because of the racial war that had always affected the social life of America in past. For an example the voter turnout from black community in the 2008 election was higher compared to other elections. There was participation of 2 million new voters from the black community along with another 2 million new Hispanic voters (Brunn, 2011). Citizens from Asia residing in America also actively participated in the 2008 presidential election which led to high voter turnout compared to previous elections. In the year 2000, many modern techniques were used to attract the attention of voters in order to get more votes from the people. News and media broadcasted every event and strategies of political groups in front of people in order to help people select appropriate candidate (Jones, 2005). The political parties also worked more to grab attention of people by numerous advertisements and rallies before elections. In the particular year many voters also registered themselves for the elections. One of the main reason of public interest towards election was the facility of driving license and other government identification proofs registration. Young voters were tempted towards the availability of these documents that could help them. States like Wisconsin, Wyoming and New Hampshire were included in these forums for maximum voter turnout. Hence in 2000 election 54% of voters participated which was quite more compared to the election held in the year 1996 (Mann, 2013). The factors discussed are some of the important evidences that show the political scenario of elections held in the year 1996, 2000 and 2008. These elections are resemblance of the modern society election procedures. United States of America being a democratic country has several positive and negative factors that impact the social culture. One of the most important features is that if a candidate wins presidential election he has maximum ability to take decisions in favor of the nation. Due to lack of opponent power an elected president can take most of the major decisions. This law reduces the interest among voters because they do not find voting to be of much help. Due to lack of interest United States of America being one of the largest democracies in the world is facing challenges regarding voter turnout. Conclusion From the above discussion it is clear that voters in United States do not have a very positive feeling regarding the elections held. Citizens of United States find that candidates with more power will win the election anyways and they do not turn up. In order to attract citizens political parties and media has played many important role to increase the interest among voters. Young generation voters are also tempted to vote by various means. Internet is also an important medium in the modern world that can help to regain the interest of citizens and it can help people to participate in elections. The political system in United States should also have changes according to the interest of people because everyone wants their interest to be preserved in the society. There should be significant power to opponents so that they can oppose any decision that is not favorable for the nation. Candidates with major support from different areas should be given responsibility to handle the area because it can motivate citizens to vote more. There are undoubtedly many changes incorporated in the political system however there are certain changes that are also required to be implemented in order to increase voter turnout. Hence this essay provides sufficient evidences to support the thesis statement. References Brunn, S. (2011). Atlas of the 2008 Elections. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Jones, L. (2005). Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Springer. Lessing, D. (2013). Through the Tunnel. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Mann, C. (2013). 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. New York: McGraw-Hill. Pierson, P. (2001). The New Politics. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Read More