Do you think compulsory is a viable option in the U.S. as a way to increase voter turnout? Why or why not? Discuss! (Feel free to quote some scholarly articles on the subject to support your arguments)
Compulsory voting cannot be a viable option in the U.S as it would decrease the voter turnout instead. According to International IDEA, they state that compulsory voting "is not consistent with the freedom associated with democracy." American citizens are known to take full pride on being independent and we do not like it when our rights are threatened. Voting is a choice that is made by our decisions, not the governments. Another consequence of mandatory voting is the risk of "high number random votes". In general, people do not like to be told what to do. For people that are forced to vote, the citizen will merely vote for whoever and not take the time to learn more. Compulsory voting would be a chore that everyone would want to get done quickly. This in turn would lead to a bandwagon effect as voters would merely vote for the candidate that is winning. It is not fair or democratic. Yes compulsory voting does increase voter turnout, but those votes did not come from the thoughtful decisions of the people.
I believe Compulsory voting may actually be helpful in the U.S. Voting for leaders in government is something to be blessed with. Before, people fought for our liberty and our chance to vote. But now that we have, people do not take advantage. When the colonies fought Britain for their freedom, they fought well to be able to break off from them because they did not have a voice in government. Now that we have it, why not use it? By making it mandatory for U.S Citizens to vote, it will most likely increase the way we view our government and it will get younger people more involved in elections. So i believe Compulsory voting should be in the U.S.
I believe compulsory voting can not be a viable option in the U.S. as a way to increase voter turnout. Even though it does increase voter turnouts , it would defeat the purpose of a democracy. People who do not show up to vote will most likely be more ignorant about policies and things that are going on in the country , and forcing them to vote will only lead to bad public policies. It will also create a bandwagon effect and unqualified candidates may end up being elected. Lastly , voting is a right not a responsibility and as a free nation people should be able to have exercise their rights without being forced.
I think it is a good idea to require citizens to vote, but it's bitter sweet because we have multiple elections throughout the years. Whether it's for senators, mayors,and governors. The simple truth is that most Americans that do vote, only vote for presidential elections. If it was required, all of America would have to keep track of all the elections. It's different for places like Australia because they don't have as many elections as we do and they can actually keep track of things, concerning candidates. Although we would have a higher voter turn out, people who previously didn't vote are just going to be influenced by the bandwagon effect. If they didn't care before, what makes you think they are going to care now?
I think compulsory voting will help increase voting turnout but I believe compulsory voting will make voting seems more like a chore. By making it mandatory, the votes will not accurately represent what the people want or need. According to a professor who teaches politics at the University of Sydney, Dr Peter Chen, he states "The system demonstrates a social expectation that at a minimum everyone needs to participate every few years and that's a good thing."
I believe that compulsory voter will indeed increase voter turnout. However, like Elizabeth said, that will no longer be democracy since citizens are going to be literally forced to vote. I think that if this ever happens, those citizens who do not participate in elections, whenever the time of voting comes, they would just go vote to get it over with rather than taking part of their time to actually do research about the candidates. I understand that more citizens should be practicing their right to vote, but I don't think that compulsory voting would be the best way to solve this issue.
I do believe that compulsory voting will be viable option in the United States but there are also drawbacks to that. With compulsory voting, one is obligated to vote and that can cause the voter turnout to rate to increase steadily. Of course there will be some drawbacks because there are those who will rebel against this belief and claim that it is not fair that they're obligated to do something they do not want to do. By forcing the people to vote, they'll automatically have to become politically involved whether they want to or not. As seen in class, Australia has a 90% turnout rate where as the United States has 40%. Here in America, one is not obligated to vote; but it's sort of ironic because isn't that what most people had been fighting for back then? Compulsory voting can be a great thing for turnout rates and those who wish Americans were much more politically engaged, but it may also be a bad idea for certain individuals. Most Americans do not vote and as we've learned, there's a lot of apathy that exists especially among young adults, but something has to be done if they really want to see a drastic change in turnout rates.
Just like Obamacare ,Compulsory voting will indeed have some good things , such as increasing voter turnout but it will also have some drawbacks. On this idea , I believe that compulsory voting , should be enforce because no one will want to be fine for it. It would basically force them to actually vote but then there are some votes that can't really make up their minds about who to choose in an election but that can be fixed with other methods such as an easier way of how you would get to know candidate and what they believe in.Another reason why I would agree with this is it will make America more united as a whole , it will really show us what people think instead of just 61% or 54% of the population actually voting. With this idea in mind I come back to the point that if they don't do it then they will be fined , well many people say that they can't because their either to busy at work or school but YOU ARE CHOOSING A PERSON THAT WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS ! , why not make it a holiday ? That will increase voter turnout which would benefit this system of compulsory voting. I believe that we can implement this and that yes there are a few things that may still affect voters but that's what we are choosing them for , to represent us and our needs , this system is a clear choice on how it might help.
I believe that compulsory voting is not a viable way of getting people to vote. In terms of quantity versus quality, sure compulsory voting wins because it forces people to vote. However, it also forces people to make rash decisions to vote for something. It misrepresents the pulbic opinion because people who are not educated suffieciently on politic standpoints with be forced to vote on the bandwagon effect. The amount of votes may be all terrific and splendid but the validity of the votes may be a little shakey.
I feel that compulsory voting would be a good idea for the political leaders in this country. They would see what most people really want rather than just the percent that vote. A lot more people would vote. How ever, like Zerlina mentioned, voting would become much like a hassle. People are going to want to avoid tickets and, as a result, just quickly vote the first name that pops up on the screen to get the process over with as soon as possible. Then there are people who just aren't going to vote either way, compulsory or not. Sure, compulsory voting will increase voter turnout, but I don't think it would end up producing the ideal results that everybody wants.
I believe that compulsory voting is not a viable option for several reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that this will decrease democracy. If a person is fined for not voting, many will just vote willy nilly with no knowledge of the candidates and their platforms. Just like Berelson says, we need political apathy in order to run a successful government. Second of all, not all eligible electorate is registered to vote due to the unreasonable DMV hours (seriously, they close at four pm and they are closed on the weekends.) and the hassle it takes just to go and register. Last but not least, compulsory voting will not give the politicians accurate information as to what the people really want. But if compulsory voting does become a thing, we need to change election day to the weekend so that adults actually have time to go and vote instead of after work when they are stressed and just wanna go home. But didn't the article say that we have many elections held almost everyday? if absolutely everyone in the country had to vote for everything there will be no time for anything else!
Yes, but the government shouldn't be extremely strict about it. I think that if anything people should get a reasonable fine for not voting and completing their civil duty. The electorate has one job and that is to vote so how are we going to be able to make changes if people aren't voting but yet people are always criticizing our government about how democratic it is.
Compulsory voting cannot be a viable option in the U.S as it would decrease the voter turnout instead. According to International IDEA, they state that compulsory voting "is not consistent with the freedom associated with democracy." American citizens are known to take full pride on being independent and we do not like it when our rights are threatened. Voting is a choice that is made by our decisions, not the governments. Another consequence of mandatory voting is the risk of "high number random votes". In general, people do not like to be told what to do. For people that are forced to vote, the citizen will merely vote for whoever and not take the time to learn more. Compulsory voting would be a chore that everyone would want to get done quickly. This in turn would lead to a bandwagon effect as voters would merely vote for the candidate that is winning. It is not fair or democratic. Yes compulsory voting does increase voter turnout, but those votes did not come from the thoughtful decisions of the people.
ReplyDeleteI believe Compulsory voting may actually be helpful in the U.S. Voting for leaders in government is something to be blessed with. Before, people fought for our liberty and our chance to vote. But now that we have, people do not take advantage. When the colonies fought Britain for their freedom, they fought well to be able to break off from them because they did not have a voice in government. Now that we have it, why not use it? By making it mandatory for U.S Citizens to vote, it will most likely increase the way we view our government and it will get younger people more involved in elections. So i believe Compulsory voting should be in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI believe compulsory voting can not be a viable option in the U.S. as a way to increase voter turnout. Even though it does increase voter turnouts , it would defeat the purpose of a democracy. People who do not show up to vote will most likely be more ignorant about policies and things that are going on in the country , and forcing them to vote will only lead to bad public policies. It will also create a bandwagon effect and unqualified candidates may end up being elected. Lastly , voting is a right not a responsibility and as a free nation people should be able to have exercise their rights without being forced.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good idea to require citizens to vote, but it's bitter sweet because we have multiple elections throughout the years. Whether it's for senators, mayors,and governors. The simple truth is that most Americans that do vote, only vote for presidential elections. If it was required, all of America would have to keep track of all the elections. It's different for places like Australia because they don't have as many elections as we do and they can actually keep track of things, concerning candidates.
ReplyDeleteAlthough we would have a higher voter turn out, people who previously didn't vote are just going to be influenced by the bandwagon effect. If they didn't care before, what makes you think they are going to care now?
I think compulsory voting will help increase voting turnout but I believe compulsory voting will make voting seems more like a chore. By making it mandatory, the votes will not accurately represent what the people want or need. According to a professor who teaches politics at the University of Sydney, Dr Peter Chen, he states "The system demonstrates a social expectation that at a minimum everyone needs to participate every few years and that's a good thing."
ReplyDeleteI believe that compulsory voter will indeed increase voter turnout. However, like Elizabeth said, that will no longer be democracy since citizens are going to be literally forced to vote. I think that if this ever happens, those citizens who do not participate in elections, whenever the time of voting comes, they would just go vote to get it over with rather than taking part of their time to actually do research about the candidates. I understand that more citizens should be practicing their right to vote, but I don't think that compulsory voting would be the best way to solve this issue.
ReplyDeletevoting*
DeleteI do believe that compulsory voting will be viable option in the United States but there are also drawbacks to that. With compulsory voting, one is obligated to vote and that can cause the voter turnout to rate to increase steadily. Of course there will be some drawbacks because there are those who will rebel against this belief and claim that it is not fair that they're obligated to do something they do not want to do. By forcing the people to vote, they'll automatically have to become politically involved whether they want to or not. As seen in class, Australia has a 90% turnout rate where as the United States has 40%. Here in America, one is not obligated to vote; but it's sort of ironic because isn't that what most people had been fighting for back then? Compulsory voting can be a great thing for turnout rates and those who wish Americans were much more politically engaged, but it may also be a bad idea for certain individuals. Most Americans do not vote and as we've learned, there's a lot of apathy that exists especially among young adults, but something has to be done if they really want to see a drastic change in turnout rates.
ReplyDeleteJust like Obamacare ,Compulsory voting will indeed have some good things , such as increasing voter turnout but it will also have some drawbacks. On this idea , I believe that compulsory voting , should be enforce because no one will want to be fine for it. It would basically force them to actually vote but then there are some votes that can't really make up their minds about who to choose in an election but that can be fixed with other methods such as an easier way of how you would get to know candidate and what they believe in.Another reason why I would agree with this is it will make America more united as a whole , it will really show us what people think instead of just 61% or 54% of the population actually voting. With this idea in mind I come back to the point that if they don't do it then they will be fined , well many people say that they can't because their either to busy at work or school but YOU ARE CHOOSING A PERSON THAT WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS ! , why not make it a holiday ? That will increase voter turnout which would benefit this system of compulsory voting. I believe that we can implement this and that yes there are a few things that may still affect voters but that's what we are choosing them for , to represent us and our needs , this system is a clear choice on how it might help.
ReplyDeleteI believe that compulsory voting is not a viable way of getting people to vote. In terms of quantity versus quality, sure compulsory voting wins because it forces people to vote. However, it also forces people to make rash decisions to vote for something. It misrepresents the pulbic opinion because people who are not educated suffieciently on politic standpoints with be forced to vote on the bandwagon effect. The amount of votes may be all terrific and splendid but the validity of the votes may be a little shakey.
ReplyDeleteI feel that compulsory voting would be a good idea for the political leaders in this country. They would see what most people really want rather than just the percent that vote. A lot more people would vote. How ever, like Zerlina mentioned, voting would become much like a hassle. People are going to want to avoid tickets and, as a result, just quickly vote the first name that pops up on the screen to get the process over with as soon as possible. Then there are people who just aren't going to vote either way, compulsory or not.
ReplyDeleteSure, compulsory voting will increase voter turnout, but I don't think it would end up producing the ideal results that everybody wants.
I believe that compulsory voting is not a viable option for several reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that this will decrease democracy. If a person is fined for not voting, many will just vote willy nilly with no knowledge of the candidates and their platforms. Just like Berelson says, we need political apathy in order to run a successful government. Second of all, not all eligible electorate is registered to vote due to the unreasonable DMV hours (seriously, they close at four pm and they are closed on the weekends.) and the hassle it takes just to go and register. Last but not least, compulsory voting will not give the politicians accurate information as to what the people really want. But if compulsory voting does become a thing, we need to change election day to the weekend so that adults actually have time to go and vote instead of after work when they are stressed and just wanna go home. But didn't the article say that we have many elections held almost everyday? if absolutely everyone in the country had to vote for everything there will be no time for anything else!
ReplyDeleteYes, but the government shouldn't be extremely strict about it. I think that if anything people should get a reasonable fine for not voting and completing their civil duty. The electorate has one job and that is to vote so how are we going to be able to make changes if people aren't voting but yet people are always criticizing our government about how democratic it is.
ReplyDelete