Compulsory voting is the right choice for the United States. According to "Compulsory Voting Is the Best Way to Keep Democracy Strong" by Arend Lijphart, there are two problems to the declining turnout rates in the U.S. One is that democracy is becoming less evident in American lives. If citizens do not vote, then our elected officials do not really represent the people's choice of government. Low turnout also means that certain groups are being ignored as the majority groups become more powerful in government. Many countries such as Australia, Italy, and Belgium have very high voter turnout rates due to compulsory voting. It is evident that fines and penalties give everyone a much stronger incentive to go to the polls. This also will create a larger representation of those groups that have lower turnout rates and will give a much better representation of the people's choice. As stated in the article, “By enhancing voter turnout, it equalizes participation and removes much of the bias against less privileged citizens. “ Democracy can be fully expressed by compulsory voting; giving everyone a voice in his/her government.
Without compulsory voting, the United States can not be called a Representational Government. By not requiring everyone to at least show up at the polls then certain groups are actually being represented. Like Arend Lijphart says in the article “if you don’t vote you don’t count”. This creates basis in favor of those who are better off and more likely to vote. These people are looking out for their best interests and by getting out and voting they are able to make sure that they keep a government in control that will look out for their best interests. So by requiring all citizens to show up at the polls, even though they do not have to vote they will be more inclined to vote, the United States will be able to have a much more accurate idea of what the majority and minority views are instead of just one group running everything. Compulsory voting will ensure that the best interests of the United States as a whole are truly being kept in mind by those who represent us, and finally giving us the American people a true democracy.
I disagree, I think that the US should not enact compulsory voting laws. According to "Nonvoting Is Not a Social Disease" by Austin Ranney, "even if we made our voting procedures as undemanding as those in other democracies, we would raise our average turnouts by only nine or so percentage points." Attempting to force Americans to vote would not bring us anywhere close to the high voter turnouts in the Western Democracies. It also would not ensure or even spark passion and interest in the election which could cause uniformed voters to cast votes. Also in the article it states that "the distributions of policy preferences among nonvoters are approximately the same as those among voters." So most Americans that choose not to vote are concerned with the same issues as those Americans that do vote. Also just because a large number of the US population does not vote this doesn't mean that there is an overwhelming opinion that is not being represented through those Americans that do vote. Also i strongly believe "that the right to abstain is just as precious as the right to vote."
Compulsory voting should not be enacted in America. It is impractical and does not always work as expected. As noted in the first article by Liphart, there are many other less radical changes that can be made to the current voting rules that can be enacted nationally. For instance, voting on the weekend instead of on Tuesday, easy access to absentee ballots, and scheduling as many elections as possible. Liphart also admits that "compulsory voting simply cannot be strictly enforced." He explains this by using the figure that about 4 percent of nonvoters in Australia actually end up paying a fine. Who's to say that in America this law will even be enforced as well as it is in Australia. Another issue with compulsory voting is that it seems foolish to force a person to vote who simply does not care about what theyre voting for. Although everyone in the country is encouraged to vote, many simply do not care and their vote will be one of ignorance and emptiness. Compulsory voting violates the freedom of an American by requiring them to vote. Liphart claims that technically, you do not have to cast a valid ballot, but what then is the point of compulsory voting?
I believe that the US should not have compulsory voting laws. This country was built upon the precipice of freedom and choice. Although the reason most people aren't voting is because of voter apathy, it is their choice to surrender their vote. The presidential election of 1996, one of the lowest American voting turnouts, was low because many Americans believed that the country was being run to a satisfactory end, and it did not need major changes. If America does not need major changes, and the polls already predict a strong direction, than why voice an opinion? I personally would vote, but I can see why some Americans would follow this logic. I also agree with Ben's point above that if one does not wish to vote, than a required vote from them would be out of ignorance, which is certainly not the intention, but would be the outcome. Compulsory voting would turn American voting into a mindless chore instead of what it was meant to be, a privilege to the American people to have a say in their government.
I agree with Ben. Compulsory voting violates Americans rights to vote - or not vote. Ranney points out that "the right to abstain is just as precious as the right to vote." He also points out that "policy preferences of nonvoters do not differ greatly from those of voters," and so forcing everyone to vote would not change the results. Forcing people to go out and vote is not going to make America more democratic. Many of those people would probably be annoyed and frustrated and resent that they are being forced to vote, and so they would not necessarily take the time to learn about the issues and make an informed decision. Lijphart himself states that enforcement of a compulsory voting policy would be "lax" and voters would not even have to vote at all, but could instead cast a blank ballot. Voting is an essential part of America, but we should not force those who do not wish to take part to vote if they don't want to.
The United States should not a compulsory voting system. Being free citizens, Americans should be given the choice to vote, or not vote. Nonvoters in the U.S. who do not participate because of their lack of knowledge on candidates, if forced to vote, would just make the electorate even more rash. Nonvoters who are informed about the issues and choose not to vote would just be wasting their time if they were forced to go to the polls and cast an empty ballot. However, I do believe that American voting requirements such as registration should be more lenient to offer everyone the opportunity to vote. Furthermore, I would like to remind others that while during the Gilded Age (1880s-1900s) voter turnout was extremely high compared to the present, it was also a time of massive fraud, especially in cities where governments were controlled by political machines.
Compulsory voting should not be enforced in the United States. If the government forced people to go out and vote, there is a great possibility that a majority of the votes would have been cast just to fulfill the compulsory requirements and not actually on the person's beliefs. The fact that under compulsory voting you can choose to submit a blank ballot, is just a waste of time. Why force someone to go out and wait in lines if they are not even going to truly vote? There are many other ways to get people to get out more to vote without forcing them. Some suggestions include creating voter-friendly registration procedures, moving voting days to the weekend instead of on Tuesdays when most people have work, and scheduling multiple elections on the same day so that voters do not have to go out to vote multiple times. Although this would only help increase the voter turnout by about 9 percent, there is the likelihood that the percentage rate will continue to climb in the future.
Forcing people to go out and vote would not necessarily have a positive affect on the elections themselves. As said by Senator Sam Ervin, "I'd be extremely happy if nobody in the United States voted except for the people who thought about the issues and made up their own minds and wanted to vote. No one else who votes is going to contribute anything but statistics and I don't care that much for statistics." What Senator Ervin says is very true. If the voters are not educated well enough about the candidates and don't care about what they are voting for, they may vote for a random candidate because they are being forced to. As said by Austin Ranney, "The right to vote is just as precious as the right to abstain." Although I do believe everyone should vote because the government is what protects them and the point of our democracy is to give people a voice, I do not think that forcing someone to vote who doesn't want to is the right thing to do.
I believe that the United States should not enact compulsory voting system. Each American citizen has the right to vote, if they choose not to that is a personal decision and should not be forced by the government. Plus many voters who would be forced to vote would be uninformed and therefore their vote would be less productive than if they hadn't voted. In Nonvoting is Not A Social Disease, Austin Ranney quotes the late Senator Sam Ervin saying, "I'm not going to shed any real or political or crocodile tears if people don't care enough to vote. I don't believe in making it easy for apathetic, lazy people. I'd be extremely happy if nobody in the United States voted except for the people who thought about the issues and made up their own minds and wanted to vote. No one else who votes is going to contribute anything but statistics, and I don't care that much for statistics." I think this quotes sums up every argument against compulsory voting. While it would be nice to have a higher voter turnout, if that means having an abundance of uninformed voters it is not worth the numbers. While I don't believe the US should enact a compulsory voting system I believe they should make voter registration more readily available. I think the system they have now is a little too complicated and I believe with an easier system for registration the US could bring in larger numbers of informed voters.
America needs to stray away from the temptations of compulsory voting. I agree with Molly with the fact that Americans would be voting uninformed if they were forced to go to the polls. This would give us elected officials who may not be very deservings of office. Austin Ranney makes a nice point in his Article "Non Voting is Not a Social Disease" with his use of facts from studies. He says,"distributions of policy preferences among nonvoters are approximately the same as those among voters." If there is not a plausible difference between preferences, forcing more voters to come out is not going to help one single party. In America, people are given choices that are unique to this country and unheard of around the rest of the world. Taking away those opportunities is infringing upon American freedoms, and is fundamentally wrong.
Compulsory voting laws are ineffective and would not be effective in our country. If one wishes not to vote but is forced to do so, that person will make an uninformed decision that will alter the opinion of the American public. Ranney makes a great point in saying that, "the right to abstain is just as precious as the right to vote," recognizing that Americans should have the right to make their own individual decisions regarding elections. I think Senator Ervin really makes a great pointin saying, "I'd be extremely happy if nobody in the United States voted except for the people who thought about the issues and made up their own minds and wanted to vote". People's will to vote for a specific candidate is what makes elections so fair in America today. If a candidate truly appealed to a majority of the American people, they would increase voter turnout due to their character and policy preferences. I like and agree with Nick's point regarding the Gilded Age, which was in fact a period of weak presidencies and little progress.
Compulsory voting is the right choice for the United States. According to "Compulsory Voting Is the Best Way to Keep Democracy Strong" by Arend Lijphart, there are two problems to the declining turnout rates in the U.S. One is that democracy is becoming less evident in American lives. If citizens do not vote, then our elected officials do not really represent the people's choice of government. Low turnout also means that certain groups are being ignored as the majority groups become more powerful in government.
ReplyDeleteMany countries such as Australia, Italy, and Belgium have very high voter turnout rates due to compulsory voting. It is evident that fines and penalties give everyone a much stronger incentive to go to the polls. This also will create a larger representation of those groups that have lower turnout rates and will give a much better representation of the people's choice. As stated in the article, “By enhancing voter turnout, it equalizes participation and removes much of the bias against less privileged citizens. “ Democracy can be fully expressed by compulsory voting; giving everyone a voice in his/her government.
Without compulsory voting, the United States can not be called a Representational Government. By not requiring everyone to at least show up at the polls then certain groups are actually being represented. Like Arend Lijphart says in the article “if you don’t vote you don’t count”. This creates basis in favor of those who are better off and more likely to vote. These people are looking out for their best interests and by getting out and voting they are able to make sure that they keep a government in control that will look out for their best interests. So by requiring all citizens to show up at the polls, even though they do not have to vote they will be more inclined to vote, the United States will be able to have a much more accurate idea of what the majority and minority views are instead of just one group running everything. Compulsory voting will ensure that the best interests of the United States as a whole are truly being kept in mind by those who represent us, and finally giving us the American people a true democracy.
ReplyDeleteI disagree, I think that the US should not enact compulsory voting laws. According to "Nonvoting Is Not a Social Disease" by Austin Ranney, "even if we made our voting procedures as undemanding as those in other democracies, we would raise our average turnouts by only nine or so percentage points." Attempting to force Americans to vote would not bring us anywhere close to the high voter turnouts in the Western Democracies. It also would not ensure or even spark passion and interest in the election which could cause uniformed voters to cast votes. Also in the article it states that "the distributions of policy preferences among nonvoters are approximately the same as those among voters." So most Americans that choose not to vote are concerned with the same issues as those Americans that do vote. Also just because a large number of the US population does not vote this doesn't mean that there is an overwhelming opinion that is not being represented through those Americans that do vote. Also i strongly believe "that the right to abstain is just as precious as the right to vote."
ReplyDeleteCompulsory voting should not be enacted in America. It is impractical and does not always work as expected. As noted in the first article by Liphart, there are many other less radical changes that can be made to the current voting rules that can be enacted nationally. For instance, voting on the weekend instead of on Tuesday, easy access to absentee ballots, and scheduling as many elections as possible.
ReplyDeleteLiphart also admits that "compulsory voting simply cannot be strictly enforced." He explains this by using the figure that about 4 percent of nonvoters in Australia actually end up paying a fine. Who's to say that in America this law will even be enforced as well as it is in Australia.
Another issue with compulsory voting is that it seems foolish to force a person to vote who simply does not care about what theyre voting for. Although everyone in the country is encouraged to vote, many simply do not care and their vote will be one of ignorance and emptiness.
Compulsory voting violates the freedom of an American by requiring them to vote. Liphart claims that technically, you do not have to cast a valid ballot, but what then is the point of compulsory voting?
I believe that the US should not have compulsory voting laws. This country was built upon the precipice of freedom and choice. Although the reason most people aren't voting is because of voter apathy, it is their choice to surrender their vote.
ReplyDeleteThe presidential election of 1996, one of the lowest American voting turnouts, was low because many Americans believed that the country was being run to a satisfactory end, and it did not need major changes. If America does not need major changes, and the polls already predict a strong direction, than why voice an opinion? I personally would vote, but I can see why some Americans would follow this logic.
I also agree with Ben's point above that if one does not wish to vote, than a required vote from them would be out of ignorance, which is certainly not the intention, but would be the outcome. Compulsory voting would turn American voting into a mindless chore instead of what it was meant to be, a privilege to the American people to have a say in their government.
I agree with Ben. Compulsory voting violates Americans rights to vote - or not vote. Ranney points out that "the right to abstain is just as precious as the right to vote." He also points out that "policy preferences of nonvoters do not differ greatly from those of voters," and so forcing everyone to vote would not change the results. Forcing people to go out and vote is not going to make America more democratic. Many of those people would probably be annoyed and frustrated and resent that they are being forced to vote, and so they would not necessarily take the time to learn about the issues and make an informed decision. Lijphart himself states that enforcement of a compulsory voting policy would be "lax" and voters would not even have to vote at all, but could instead cast a blank ballot. Voting is an essential part of America, but we should not force those who do not wish to take part to vote if they don't want to.
ReplyDeleteThe United States should not a compulsory voting system. Being free citizens, Americans should be given the choice to vote, or not vote. Nonvoters in the U.S. who do not participate because of their lack of knowledge on candidates, if forced to vote, would just make the electorate even more rash. Nonvoters who are informed about the issues and choose not to vote would just be wasting their time if they were forced to go to the polls and cast an empty ballot. However, I do believe that American voting requirements such as registration should be more lenient to offer everyone the opportunity to vote. Furthermore, I would like to remind others that while during the Gilded Age (1880s-1900s) voter turnout was extremely high compared to the present, it was also a time of massive fraud, especially in cities where governments were controlled by political machines.
ReplyDeleteCompulsory voting should not be enforced in the United States. If the government forced people to go out and vote, there is a great possibility that a majority of the votes would have been cast just to fulfill the compulsory requirements and not actually on the person's beliefs. The fact that under compulsory voting you can choose to submit a blank ballot, is just a waste of time. Why force someone to go out and wait in lines if they are not even going to truly vote? There are many other ways to get people to get out more to vote without forcing them. Some suggestions include creating voter-friendly registration procedures, moving voting days to the weekend instead of on Tuesdays when most people have work, and scheduling multiple elections on the same day so that voters do not have to go out to vote multiple times. Although this would only help increase the voter turnout by about 9 percent, there is the likelihood that the percentage rate will continue to climb in the future.
ReplyDeleteForcing people to go out and vote would not necessarily have a positive affect on the elections themselves. As said by Senator Sam Ervin, "I'd be extremely happy if nobody in the United States voted except for the people who thought about the issues and made up their own minds and wanted to vote. No one else who votes is going to contribute anything but statistics and I don't care that much for statistics." What Senator Ervin says is very true. If the voters are not educated well enough about the candidates and don't care about what they are voting for, they may vote for a random candidate because they are being forced to. As said by Austin Ranney, "The right to vote is just as precious as the right to abstain." Although I do believe everyone should vote because the government is what protects them and the point of our democracy is to give people a voice, I do not think that forcing someone to vote who doesn't want to is the right thing to do.
I believe that the United States should not enact compulsory voting system. Each American citizen has the right to vote, if they choose not to that is a personal decision and should not be forced by the government. Plus many voters who would be forced to vote would be uninformed and therefore their vote would be less productive than if they hadn't voted. In Nonvoting is Not A Social Disease, Austin Ranney quotes the late Senator Sam Ervin saying, "I'm not going to shed any real or political or crocodile tears if people don't care enough to vote. I don't believe in making it easy for apathetic, lazy people. I'd be extremely happy if nobody in the United States voted except for the people who thought about the issues and made up their own minds and wanted to vote. No one else who votes is going to contribute anything but statistics, and I don't care that much for statistics." I think this quotes sums up every argument against compulsory voting. While it would be nice to have a higher voter turnout, if that means having an abundance of uninformed voters it is not worth the numbers. While I don't believe the US should enact a compulsory voting system I believe they should make voter registration more readily available. I think the system they have now is a little too complicated and I believe with an easier system for registration the US could bring in larger numbers of informed voters.
ReplyDeleteAmerica needs to stray away from the temptations of compulsory voting. I agree with Molly with the fact that Americans would be voting uninformed if they were forced to go to the polls. This would give us elected officials who may not be very deservings of office. Austin Ranney makes a nice point in his Article "Non Voting is Not a Social Disease" with his use of facts from studies. He says,"distributions of policy preferences among nonvoters are approximately the same as those among voters." If there is not a plausible difference between preferences, forcing more voters to come out is not going to help one single party. In America, people are given choices that are unique to this country and unheard of around the rest of the world. Taking away those opportunities is infringing upon American freedoms, and is fundamentally wrong.
ReplyDeleteCompulsory voting laws are ineffective and would not be effective in our country. If one wishes not to vote but is forced to do so, that person will make an uninformed decision that will alter the opinion of the American public. Ranney makes a great point in saying that, "the right to abstain is just as precious as the right to vote," recognizing that Americans should have the right to make their own individual decisions regarding elections. I think Senator Ervin really makes a great pointin saying, "I'd be extremely happy if nobody in the United States voted except for the people who thought about the issues and made up their own minds and wanted to vote". People's will to vote for a specific candidate is what makes elections so fair in America today. If a candidate truly appealed to a majority of the American people, they would increase voter turnout due to their character and policy preferences. I like and agree with Nick's point regarding the Gilded Age, which was in fact a period of weak presidencies and little progress.
ReplyDelete