Elections
Role of Diminishing Marginal Return on Voter Turnout

This paper looks at the effects of diminishing marginal returns on voter turnout by comparing voter turnout in various countries. The paper will look at countries with both high and low voter turnout and attempt to explain the differences in the importance of the vote in explaining the differences.

Voter Turnout in Established and Less-Established Democracies

While the leaders in turnout during the past few decades have been mainly new democracies, when one looks at broader figures there does appear to be a difference in turnout between "established democracies" and "less-established democracies.

Political scientist Arend Lijphart, categorized established democracies as all countries that are democratic now, and have been democratic for the last 20 years, and which have a population of at least a quarter of a million people (International IDEA, 2000).

A. Discussion of Data from Established Democracies vs. Less-Established Democracies

At the time of his research,…...

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Bibliography

Anderson, D. (1999). Alternative Electoral Systems: An Answer to Our Governing Crisis in Paul Scheele (ed.), We Get What We Vote For... Or Do We? Westport, CN: Praeger Publishing.

Barber, K. (1995). A Right to Representation: Proportional Systems for the 21st Century.

Center for Voting and Democracy.

International IDEA (2000). International IDEA Voter Turnout. IDEA Newsletter, Vol. 4.

High turnouts also helped to determine several key local and state elections. The large numbers of Latino voters in California also helped secure the passage of Proposition 8, therefore revoking gay married couples of their rights. A majority of 53% of Latino voters supported Proposition 8 (Ferriss & Reese 1). This is also thought to be due to the higher association with religious institutions over white liberal voters in California
Young voters also flocked to the polls this election in record numbers. These voters represented a large liberal majority who voted primarily Democratic in most election decisions. Many sources have been labeling this 2008 election as the second largest youth turnout in the whole of American history, (Morgenstern 1). Unprecedented numbers of young voters showed up to the polls to make the voice of a young America heard. Somewhere within the ranges of 22 and 24 million young adults between…...

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Works Cited

Borenstein, Seth. "Voter Turnout Best in Generations, Maybe a Century." Associated

Press. 2008. Retrieved 18 Nov 2008 at http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i34ao3tow5yhj2v7v24HM_wbT8JQD948LJRG0.

Farley, Robert. "Amendment 2 Fate Lies with Black Voter Turnout." St. Petersburg

Times. 2008. Retrieved 18 Nov 2008 at  http://tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article868615.ece .

Bias in Voter Turnout and State Welfare Changes
The authors of the article are predominantly concerned with the welfare policies that were passed after 1996 when the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) was signed into law. Centrally, the article highlights the influences that the class bias in the voter turn-out had on the welfare changes especially in state welfare policies since the passing and signing into effect the TANF.

The widely held position that the low voter turn out in the disenfranchised sections of the population like the minority and the economically week regions contributes to the bad policies that have been passed since 1996 is the basic question the authors discuss. They try to evaluate and see whether it is true that the lower voter turn out in such regions as mentioned above do directly contribute to bad policies that do not care for the poor in the society…...

Introduction Voter turnout in the United States changes from state to state. An excellent example to show how this variation occurs is the 2012 presidential election, where there were 45% voter turnout in Hawaiians and 76% Minnesotans. Many different factors determine the number of people who cast ballots (Larocca & Klemanski, 2011). According to Brenna Center (2020), lawmakers in 29 states have proposed bills that would encourage more voting. The bills aim to streamline the voter registration process, facilitate absentee voting, allow people with past convictions to vote, and promote more early in-person voting. Something different is happening in 15 fifteen states with bills that make the voting process more complex being suggested. Some of the restrictions include reduced support to voters, limitations on voter ID, harsh punishment for electoral related crimes, and complicated processes for absentee voting. Legislators from the 15 states argue that their purpose is to secure elections…...

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References

Brenna Center, (2020). Voting Laws Roundup 2020. Retrieved from  

Citrin, J., Green, D. P., & Levy, M. (2014). The effects of voter ID notification on voter turnout: Results from a large-scale field experiment. Election Law Journal, 13(2), 228-242.

Gronke, P., Galanes-Rosenbaum, E., Miller, P. A., & Toffey, D. (2008). Convenience voting. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci., 11, 437-455.

Highton, B. (2017). Voter identification laws and turnout in the United States. Annual Review of Political Science, 20, 149-167.

Inbody, D. S. (2016). The soldier vote: War, politics, and the ballot in America. Springer.

Larocca, R., & Klemanski, J. S. (2011). US state election reform and turnout in presidential elections. State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 11(1), 76-101.

Menger, A., Stein, R. M., & Vonnahme, G. (2015, June). Turnout Effects from vote by mail elections. In conference on election administration and reform.

Mycoff, J. D., Wagner, M. W., & Wilson, D. C. (2009). The empirical effects of voter-ID laws: Present or absent?. PS: Political Science and Politics, 42(1), 121-126.https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-2020 

Part II. Meta-Analysis: Critiquing hat You Have Done

Data thus far on negative campaigning has been mixed, with some research suggesting that it can be profoundly mobilizing to the party faithful of a generally dispirited American electorate (Jackson & Carsey 2006; Martin 2004), while other anecdotal studies suggest it can alienate the public. Polling individuals from a cross-section of elections allows for a wider array of demographic data, and reduces the possibility of independent variables affecting the results. For example, the area selected for the case study might have a generally low level of civic engagement, which could create low voter turnout that was correlated to a negative campaign by both candidates, but not caused by the candidate's advertisements. Examining different districts, with different kinds of hotly contested or lukewarm races, is more representational. However, a case study allows for greater specificity in conducting the research. The interviewers are able to…...

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Works Cited

Do negative campaign ads work?" This Nation. 2005. 14 Jan 2008. http://www.thisnation.com/question/031.html

Jackson, Robert a. & Thomas a. Carsey. U.S. Senate campaigns, negative advertising, and voter mobilization in the 1998 midterm election. Electoral Studies. 26.1: 180-195. March 2007. 14 Jan 2008

Martin, Paul S. "Inside the Black Box of Negative Campaign Effects: Three Reasons

Why Negative Campaigns Mobilize." Political Psychology. 25.4: 545-562. Aug 2004.

Democracy and its Critics, Dahl outlines the modern incarnation of democracy. Democracy, he notes, requires the people participating in it to "possess all the capacities, resources and institutions they need in order to govern themselves" (p.1). The complexity of democracy grew with the expansion of the idea from city-state to nation-state. He then outlines the three types of critics of democracy, and their arguments.
One of the most fundamental concepts in democracy is the definition of the "people," that is, the ones who are participating in the democratic system. This definition was originally very narrow, but has grown to encompass most adults, in most modern democracies. They are supported by a wealth of institutions that facilitate the ability to vote, political parties that express particular ideologies, and means of acquiring information that allow the people to make informed choices. A democracy without informed choice is inherently weak, as some critics have…...

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Reference

Dahl, R. (1989) Democracy and its critics. Yale University Press.

Introduction

When elections are won or lost by a large majority, it can give people, particularly young people, the impression that their votes don’t matter. They see the situation as very simple: the outcome would be the same regardless or not if they had exercised their one vote or not. However, this attitude is not only damaging and cultivates a dangerous sense of apathy, it also is very incorrect. In states that are overwhelmingly red or blue, it really can feel like your vote is lost in a sea that is either with you or against you. And as one researcher recently pointed out, it is important to acknowledge that voting is onerous (McColl, 2016). It can be tedious to look up one’s polling place and make time before or after work to vote. Going before work means waking up earlier and going after work means being tired and putting off…...

Voting is one of the most important rights in a democratic society. In the United States, this right has been intermittently fought for by minority groups such as black people, women and others. It is a right that has been earned by pioneers and fighters, and one that is being taken for granted all too easily in today's society. According to a column by Hillary Clinton (2001) for example, young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are losing interest in voting. A survey conducted by the National Association of Secretaries of State concludes that this generation may become the first class of non-voters. This does not bode well for the United States of the future. The country's past is riddled with struggle in order to reach the state of democracy that everybody enjoys today. The right to vote is one of the most important privileges granted by this…...

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Bibliography

Center for Voting and Democracy. Title Voting & democracy report, 1995. Washington, D.C.: Center for Voting and Democracy, 1995.

Clinton, Hillary Rodham. "Talking it Over." The White House. November, 2001. http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/EOP/First_Lady/html/columns/2000/Tue_Nov_14_185710_2000.html

Hutton, Barbara. Voter education: manual for trainers. Bellville: Project Vote, 1993.

Leidy, Maureen. "Importance of Voting" PageWise.com, 2002.  http://www.wallbuilders.com/resources/search/detail.php?ResourceID=22

Voting is a privilege and a right. A right that was denied for millions of people. Only until the passing of the Voting ights Act did minorities have a chance to not only vote, but change the face of the government. Before 1965, minorities, especially blacks, faced violent opposition in an attempt to stifle their voices and control the way the government nominates its officials.
Now that President Obama has shown what can happen when minorities are given a voice in politics, there have come some major setbacks. The nation in the next presidential election will adopt one of two sides, a far left or a far right. With the recent death of Head Justice Scalia and the refusal of Congress to allow the nomination of Merrick Garland, it is safe to say the nation is in turmoil in several ways. To understand how things became so unstable it is important…...

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References

DeSilver, D. & DeSilver, D. (2015). U.S. voter turnout trails most developed countries. Pew Research Center. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from  http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/06/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/ 

Justice,. (2016). History Of Federal Voting Rights Laws -- CRT -- Department of Justice. Justice.gov. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from https://www.justice.gov/crt/history-federal-voting-rights-laws

Meko, T., Keating, D., Urhmacher, K., & Stamm, S. (2016). Everything you need to know about appointing a Supreme Court justice. Washington Post. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from  https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/scotus-nominees/ 

Super PACs -- OpenSecrets. (2016). Opensecrets.org. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from  https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/superpacs.php

Voting isn't just important to Democracy. Voting is Democracy." I have long been proud of our country, and honored to participate in its electoral process, even if that process sometimes seems complicated and flawed. As a 38-year-old, I have voted in several different elections, all in the same voting precinct of Meigs, Georgia. My values, attitudes, and beliefs have been strongly shaped by my community. I am a person with strong and immutable values, dedication to faith and family, and to my country. hen I first registered to vote at the age of 18, I did not yet realize the power I had as an individual citizen. I still felt like a teenager, not quite a child anymore, but poised to be a fully functioning citizen of the United States. Yet it would be several more election cycles for me to recognize the potency of our democracy.
Registering to vote…...

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Works Cited

Brewster, Ben. "The Importance of Voting to a Democracy." Retrieved online:  https://www.sec.state.vt.us/kids/contest/2005/9_12_winner_2005.htm 

Osnos, Evan. "President Trump." The New Yorker. Sept 26, 2016.

Von Spakovsky, Hans A. "New State Voting Laws: Barriers to the Ballot?" Retrieved online:  http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/2011/09/new-state-voting-laws-barriers-to-the-ballot

American Political Behavior Mid-Term and Discussion Chapter and Blog
Module 4/Discussion 1 -- Participation of Young Voters

Young voter participation has been lagging behind other age groups, which has been a major concern. It is a concern because majority of the population that is eligible to vote comprises of the youth. In a nation where 23% of the people are edible to vote, 17% comprises of the youth (Winograd & Hais, 2009). It is also notable that voter registration targets the college students thus a gap in voter turnout between people with collage experience and those without (Putnam, 2000). Young adults were able to vote after the ratification of the 26th amendment, which was in 1971. egardless of this right to vote, young adults do not exercise their civil responsibility to vote. The voter turnout by young adults is usually low over the last years. This is mainly due to the lack…...

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References

Hendricks, J.A., & Denton, R.E. (2009). Communicator-in-chief: How Barack Obama used new media technology to win the white house. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books.

Rosenau, J.N., & Singh, J.P. (2002). Information technologies and global politics: The changing scope of power and governance. Albany (N.Y.: State university of New York press.

Putnam, R.D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. (ISBN 0-7432-0304-6)

Wattenberg, M.P. (2008) Is voting for young people? New York, NY: Pearson Longman. (ISBN 10: 0-205-51807-9, ISBN 13: 978-0-205-51807-4)

It is also possible that voters could change their attitudes after having completed the questionnaire. This could affect the validity of the results for the experimental group. To handle this eventuality, several questionnaires can be delivered over time for the whole group before the experimental group is selected. A mean can then be determined to most accurately divide the group into a similar experimental and control group.

After the experimental group is determined, negative advertisements can be displayed. In order increase the validity of this experiment, a number of survey questionnaires over time can also be delivered in order to minimize non-visible influences such as an extreme reaction to a particular person in a particular advertisement. At the same time, the same number of questionnaires can be delivered to the control group.

A mean of all the questionnaires over the determined time can then provide relatively accurate data regarding whether voters are…...

It appears then that the authors believe that democracy has taken a very different form from its position less than a century ago. Citizens and politicians no longer work together to achieve the democratic aim. Instead, both sectors use the means at their disposal to make the differences that they deem necessary on an individual rather than a collective level.

While this is a more contemporary argument than the one in Politics by Other Means, it nevertheless still does not address the issues from all sides. Still, the authors appear to assume the relative integrity of politicians in terms of achieving political rather than personal aims and the drive of citizens to participate, as well as their trust in the political process.

Knight and Lewis (in Ginsberg and Stone 176) address the feelings involved in political participation more fully, by means of the concept of ideological sentiment. The authors note that ideological…...

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References

Crenson, Matthew a. And Ginsberg, Benjamin. Downsizing democracy: ho America sidelined its citizens and privatized its public. JHU Press, 2004.

Crenson, Matthew a and Ginsberg, Benjamin. "Citizens to Customers: How America Downsized Citizenship and Privatized Its Public." In . Making government manageable: executive organization and management in the twenty-first century. Edited by Thomas H. Stanton and Benjamin Ginsberg JHU Press, 2004.

Ginsberg, Benjamin and Shefter, Martin. Politics by other means: the declining importance of elections in America. Basic Books, 1990.

Knight, Kathleen and Lewis, Carolyn V. "Does Ideology Matter?" In Do Elections Matter? Edited by Benjamin Ginsberg and Alan Stone. M.E. Sharpe, 1996.

bias, internal validity, external validity, and reliability.
There are several important issues with the research conducted by this anonymous female student that impacts the reliability and validity of her findings. Firstly, it appears that the researcher formulated her hypothesis before she had gathered all the facts available regarding the topic which is a major issue. She has an opinion that lower income people vote less than those with higher incomes and seems to have looked for data to support the hypothesis rather than forming a hypothesis which accounts for the data. In addition, in the question regarding this hypothetical research it is stated that she searched the internet and library, but there is no information as to the quality or reliability of the sources that she used in her research which also calls her findings into question. I would also be concerned with the world almanac she is using as…...

A new "treaty" to reform the EU government was put forth in 2007, ratified by most countries, but rejected by Ireland in 2008. Efforts continue.
Why Low Voter Turnout in European Parliamentary Elections?

The past two European Parliament elections, in 2004 and 2009, have produced increasingly lower voter turnouts -- 45.5% in 2004, and 43% in 2009 -- both record lows (Xuequan, 2009).

This occurs because most of the European voters are still "nationals" rather than "internationals." They are often unaware of policies and debates about issues that are occuring at the "European" level. Their own individual countries of residence and its issues are more important to them. Secondly, there is an enormously deep-seated feeling among most Europeans that their vote won't make a difference. They don't vote because they don't see direct results in regards to common citizen influence in the EU government institutions.

eference List

Xuequan, M. (2009, June 6). ecord low…...

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Reference List

Xuequan, M. (2009, June 6). Record low voter turnout in European Parliament elections. Retrieved September 3, 2009, from xinhuanet.com:  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/08/content_11504890.htm

When crafting a debatable thesis statement for the 1993 Canadian federal election emergence, consider focusing on the key events, issues, and factors that shaped the election and led to the emergence of the winning party. Here are some tips to help you develop a strong and debatable thesis statement:

1. Identify a specific aspect of the 1993 Canadian federal election that you find interesting or significant. This could include topics such as campaign strategies, party platforms, voter turnout, party leadership, or the role of the media.

2. Consider the historical context of the election and how it may have influenced the outcome.....

1. The impact of social media on the 2020 Presidential Election
2. The role of race and identity politics in the 2020 election
3. The influence of foreign interference in the 2020 election
4. The polarization of American society during the 2020 election
5. The rise of political populism in the 2020 election
6. The role of the Electoral College in the outcome of the 2020 election
7. The role of gender in the 2020 Presidential Election
8. The impact of COVID-19 on the 2020 election
9. The importance of swing states in determining the outcome of the 2020 election
10. The impact of voter turnout and voter suppression....

Topic 1: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Election

Analyze the ways in which the pandemic affected the election campaign, voter turnout, and the overall results.
Discuss the role of technology in facilitating remote campaigning and voter registration during a public health crisis.
Examine the implications of the pandemic for future elections and the challenges it poses to democratic processes.

Topic 2: The Role of Social Media in the Election

Evaluate the impact of social media platforms on the spread of information, voter engagement, and the dissemination of misinformation.
Analyze the effectiveness of social media campaigns by both candidates....

1. The Impact of Social Media on the 2020 Presidential Election

2. Voter Turnout and Engagement in the 2020 Presidential Election

3. The Role of Political Advertising in the 2020 Presidential Election

4. The Impact of COVID-19 on the 2020 Presidential Election

5. The Influence of Political Debates in the 2020 Presidential Election

6. The Role of Political Polling in the 2020 Presidential Election

7. The Impact of Third-Party Candidates on the 2020 Presidential Election

8. The Role of Gender and Race in the 2020 Presidential Election

9. The Impact of Foreign Interference on the 2020 Presidential Election

10. The Future of American Politics After the 2020 Presidential Election
11.....