Participation and elections

Participation and Elections The elections of political leaders are conducted periodically in different democratic nations. The voters are registered and are expected to turn out on the polling day to elect the officials of their respective choice. The success or failure of elections depends on the voter’s turn out. This paper examines the situation of United States of America to outline the factors that determine the turnout as it is considered desirable in political science. These factors can be classified as: demographic, socioeconomic, institutional, and democratic and frequency factors. To begin with, demographic factors include : age , old people tend turn out more than young people, marital status, married couples turn out than unmarried while in gender women turn out than men. Lastly is race and ethnicity popular candidates of large ethnic group attract a large number of voters.
Socioeconomic factors include; wealth and illiteracy . Rich persons turn out as compared to the poor and illiterate. Institutional factors such as compulsory voter registration and voter turn out. The citizens are compelled to turn out by an act of law. Moreover, the degree of democracy in which free and fair election are done motivates the voter as compared to authoritarian where voters are forced to accept election results. Frequent elections fatigue voters. Free and fair election, equal participation and periodic election motivate the voter to turn out in large numbers to vote.