Factors Effecting Voter Participation

A detailed Summary of Factors Effecting Voter Participation

Factors Affecting Voter Participation

One of the most important aspects of any democracy is participation by the citizens in it. Perhaps the most basic form of participation is the act of voting. For this reason many political scientists have chosen to study the factors that effect peoples willingness or unwillingness to vote. Two such articles are Relationships of Media Use and Political Disaffection to Political Efficacy and Voting Behavior and Registration, Turnout, and State Party Systems. The first addresses several factors (Cynicism, Efficacy, and Disaffection) as they relate to media use or the lack of it and the effect the level of media use has on voter participation. The second starts with a much more basic concept, a forerunner to voter participation, registration, and how its difficulties effect overall voter participation. These articles read separately make their own valid points however when looked at together they are much more effective in explaining how the difficulties of the registration process and the role of media affect voter participation. When looking at these articles there are three aspects of them that should be examined a little closer. The author's both make impo

Brown, Robert D, Jackson, Robert A, and Wright, Gerald C. "Registration, Turnout, and State Party Systems." Political Research Quarterly. Sep. 1999: 463 - 479. Proquest Online. (25 Oct. 2000).

One of the major questions asked in Registration, Turnout, and State Party Systems is if political parties have the power to "get out the vote". The authors state that the parties get their formalization from the values and efforts of their elite but if they don't give mention to citizens concerns in political discussion and debates the electorate will become less likely to participate. However voters will become more likely to participate if they feel their concerns are being addressed (Brown). The article then goes on to state that "We conceptualize registration and turnout as two distinct, linked stages in the process of electoral participation - the second (turnout) that cannot be completed without overcoming the first (registration)" (Brown, Jackson, and Wright 465). The authors do a great job of linking these two main points throughout the article when it is shown that liberal party control is conducive to higher registration rates, which in turn results in higher voter turnout. In the second article Relationships of Media Use and Political Disaffection to Political Efficacy and Voting Behavior there are many important points that are very carefully interconnected. The authors of this article state that cynical citizens are more likely to feel a sense of decreased efficacy and are less likely to use media sources when in most cases the use of media would increase their participation rather than their cynical attitudes (Austin, Fortman, and, Pinkleton 36). They then go on in length to discuss the relationship between cynicism, negativity, disaffection, efficacy and voter participation fortunately for the reader they link all these points together in an easily understandable statement. "Negativism toward campaigns and mediated campaign information can reduce active media use and can affect the way media information is interpreted. Reduced media use and negativism bo

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Approximate Word count = 1408
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics