In accordance with the theories of John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, this paper will argue that through both electioneering campaigns and legislative action, representatives and senators in the Arizona State Legislature respond to cues from an electorate dissatisfied with the deliberative nature of the democratic process. Although the desired “stealth democracy” is ultimately impossible to fully implement among an ideologically diverse yet largely apathetic population, controversial measures such as S.B. 1070 and S.B. 1062 exemplify attempts made by the legislature to pass populist bills expeditiously without great scrutiny. As this paper will detail, measures such as these often violate the provisions of the federal Constitution and
The article, “Oklahoma Law: Tough on Minority Party and Independent Presidential Candidates”, by Richard Winger seeks to explain how Oklahoma stringent election laws came to be and why having these laws that make it difficult for minor parties to succeed should change. The problem Winger addresses in his article is supported by historical evidence ranging back from 1890 to today, with comparisons made to other states. The case against rigid election laws that Winger presents is supported by over a century of historical evidence he presents. Starting in 1890, when Oklahoma was still a territory, voters were free to create their own ballots. These ballots were typically provided by a voter’s preferred political party and would only carry the
By following his conscience, he engaged in an act of civil disobedience in the Senate. Once called a political heretic, Adams defied the common tendency of freshman Senators to blindly follow the dictates of the party. “He denied the duty of elected officials ‘to be palsied by the will of their constituents’… by flattering their prejudices, by ministering to their passions, and by humoring their transient and changeable opinions.” I believe that John Quincy Adams understood the grave weight of his political decision. Nevertheless, meaningful progress and development within political institutions sometimes involves a reformation of its internal practices.
Magliocca, G. N. (2015). Money, politics, and the Constitution: Beyond Citizens United. Yale University Press. Somin, I. (2012). Citizens United and the right to vote: The constitutional case for limits on corporate electioneering.
Hacker and Pierson provide an institutional explanation for public support of the 2001 tax policy. R. Douglas Arnold cites: discernibility, traceability and accountability as necessary to hold incumbents responsible for policy choices. When these valuable resources are absent, politicians are able to hedge their own culpability to their constituents. Voter knowledge is critical to assumptions (4 & 5) of
The general perception of voters is that they are ill-informed and ill-equipped to vote on complex measures. Nonetheless, Ethan Rarick argues that voters generally act rationally and that they “rely on cues such as endorsements from people or organizations they trust to make their decisions.” (143). By providing more information and resources to voters, more constituents will be able to vote wisely and
In the same month that Kansas voters ratified the Leavenworth Constitution, the U.S. Congress also rejected it. Its supporters were not surprised by the outcome, if Kansans would have to take another stab at a state constitution. Still, the delegates behind the Leavenworth Constitution showed considerable foresight. The mayhem of the “Bleeding Kansas” era was more than a violent struggle over the expansion of the institution of slavery, as the animosity of the period boiled over the political and legal debates. This was especially apparent when the territory prepared for the statehood as the tasks of creating, approving, and receiving the federal recognition of Kansas’s founding the document were proving an impossible
We see multiple successes of voting equality attempted through amendments, however, the Supreme Court’s decision on Shelby County v. Holder has pushed back years and years of effort for voting rights. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling was in Shelby County’s favor, stating that the Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional along with Section 5. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr, who wrote the majority’s opinion, said that the power to regulate election was reserved to the states, not the federal government. As a result to the court’s decision, the federal government can no longer determine which voting law discriminates and can be passed. After the case, many states had freely passed new voting laws; the most common voting law states passed
Practices like these show how the Electoral College indirectly allows the reduction of third-party candidates to ballot obstacles instead of legitimate contenders with valid ideas that could
Democracy in the United States is reliant upon its citizen’s ability to act as an informed electorate and vote for leaders through a critical process of due diligence. In an election as momentous as the presidency, various influences can give voters a false representation of their political endorsements. A central role in this notion is the ability to subconsciously prime voter perspectives and impact election outcomes using various forms of rhetoric. Politicians employ both forensic (judicial) and political (deliberative) rhetoric to attack the credibility of their opponents based on past injustices and persuade voters to take specified action in the future.
The United States currently faces a severe problem with one of their governmental processes. In the democratic system of the United States, politicians are elected by voting from the citizens, in most cases. The problem the United States is facing is that people are no longer voting in elections for officials. This problem is discussed in the article, “In praise of low voter turnout”, written by Charles Krauthammer. The main idea behind this article is that voters are no longer interested in politics, as they were in previous generations.
The American political culture includes diverse themes that bond the citizens of the United States. However, the themes of the American government can simultaneously contrast one another. For instance, the ideas of liberty and populism can function in harmony under certain circumstances, yet the two ideas can conflict with one another in further situations. Liberty, the state of being free, is often associated with independence; this important concept is also associated with the first amendment and freedom that the country honors tremendously, and countless foreigners strive to achieve it. On the other hand, populism, the belief that the majority of the people should control the government rather than a small group, can be associated with the mob rule, yet populism is meant for the people having the freedom of participating and influencing the government.
In the short story called, “The American Electoral Process,” Kubic explained to us about why he disagrees with how the Constitution and the Congress take all votes for every single state as well as being unalike in population and size in which he would tell of as
In amusing ourselves to death, Walter Lippmann speaks on how true democracy is not able to effectively govern citizens who do not understand the issues that they vote on because of the areas in government in which the modern citizen would have no experience of any kind - elected officials are voted in blindly by citizens who are unable to understand their full campaign. These officials later use their platform to create strategic biases that influence how public opinion is formed and then further distort the citizen’s reality. However, Lippmann does not go as far as to say that we should stop practicing representative government, in fact, Lippmann does not think that there is an actual solution to many of the issues he talks about because they
Samuel Morse was the man we all can thank for Morse code. In 1836, he developed an interesting device that allowed information to be transferred through wires and a series of electrical signals. There were two types of signals that were used to assist in this transfer of information. The short signals, represented as dots, are known as dits while the long signals, represented as dashes, are known as dahs. An example of this type of communication can be seen as so: “… --- …”.
In the United States, people always talk about freedom and equality. Especially they want elections could be more democratic. In American Democracy in Peril, Hudson’s main argument regarding chapter five “Election Without the People’s Voice,” is if elections want to be democratic, they must meet three essential criteria, which are to provide equal representation of all citizens, to be mechanisms for deliberation about public policy issues, and to control what government does. Unfortunately, those points that Hudson mentions are what American elections do not have. American elections do not provide equal representation to everyone in the country.