USA has held more elections than many other countries in the world. Nonetheless, some of these elections record a low voter turnout. It has also had weak political parties with many political offices to fill. There are two political parties that fill all office vacancies. Voter participation has been high in parliamentary democracies where few elections have taken place.
The question arises on how best people can achieve democracy. This is possible through limiting the number of elected offices, focusing voter attention and increasing political participation or keeps the wide range of elected offices with a correspondingly lower rate of political participation. This paper seeks to give views on how the government can increase participation in elections.
USA has many elective offices; on estimation there are about 521,000 posts filled through the election process. As a result, there are many names for voters to familiarize themselves with, which largely de-motivates voters. The mechanics of voting procedures also are another reason for low voter turnout. To increase voter turnout, government needs to reduce offices to be filled in the elective process. This will reduce the names the voters need to know before the election date.
Reform programs can play a role to increase the voter turnout. Nevertheless, these restructures need to focus on the benefits and voting cost. Usually, the winner in an election spends more than his or her opponent. It is important for challengers than for incumbent to outspend the loser.
Incumbents have been correspondingly receptive to restricting spending. The campaign money comes from some major donors. These reforms limited how much an individual could give to a candidate in each election, authorized public funding for primary elections and presidential general campaign and allowed organizations to establish political action committees to fundraise. This shows that current reforms focus on campaign cost only.
A free and fair election process shows how democratic a country is. Democracy is the freedom to do what one wants so long as it is within the law without a person forcing another to do against his or her will.
America is a democratic country; the constitution is the huddle on the way to force people to register as voters and vote. Policies are the tools that will urge people to register and vote. Make good policies by the candidates and urge people to register to support the policy. Policies, however, good they maybe will encounter opposition, slowing change.
It is accurate that election campaign should insight people to participate in election in large numbers. Prior governing experience is not necessary during campaigns. The voter turnout in a presidential election has decreased drastically by a margin of 10 percent since 1960, from 62 percent to 52 percent.
People no longer value politicians as they did years ago. The most preferred candidate could be that he/she has not enough money to do the regular advertising that his /her opponents do. Two years to elections, Television will start airing campaign adverts for a certain candidate. This candidate could not be the people’s choice thus demoralizing them from registering. The merit is for the most popular candidate. Therefore, I agree with the author of Op-Ed Case Study.
In conclusion, so as to increase voters turn out, government needs to eliminate most of the elections de-motivators. Policies that encourage voters to vote can help achieve this objective. It is essential to give the voters a reason to vote. This will surely increase their numbers during elections.