Bribes and ballots: the impact of corruption on voter turnout in democracies is a journal written by Daniel Stockemer, Bernadette Lamontagne, and Lyle Scruggs. The journal focuses on the links between voter turnout and corruption within democracies. The report begins be educating the reader on the definition of corruption used in this example. In the case of the data collected in this report, the level of corruption being considered is variable or greater. Corruption at the variable level is a lot more stick than traditional legal definitions …show more content…
The authors are upfront with the reader about possible short comings of the report. For example the authors mention the fact that nearly fifty percent of the surveys were conducted within well-established democracies like the United States and Germany. The writer has a significant amount of sources and takes very little information for granted. Whenever there is an assertion the author immediately back it up with a citation. This is a source is extremely reliable due to its honesty with the reader, inclusion of supporting evidence, and qualified writers.
The information provided from this report will allow me to back up my claims that finance reform is a pressing issue. In order for an issue to be pressing there needs to be a clear/potential area in which harm could be done to something. In this case it will link variable corruption to voter turnout. In a representative democracy diminishing turnouts is incredibly freighting. Representatives need to be representing the interests of their constituents. If the constituents remove themselves from the political process it endangers the effectiveness of our current democratic …show more content…
It is the author’s belief that current elections are of little impact on our democracy. The author believes elections are a medium in which to provide policy ideas between two rigid party’s. Douglas additionally believes that the current election system does little to facilitate choosing how government in run. Douglas mentions to increase in third party spending, lower turnout, and an increase in non-voting political actors.
The author has a radical opinion on the matter compared to other scholars. For many political science professors and educators elections are the corner stone of a successful democracy. Douglas makes the case that the election system’s as they are now do little but drum up hostilities between camps of people, encourage third party’s spending, and are unproductive. The author doesn’t provide citations for information provided in this article. The paper is based on the writer’s opinions on the current election system. These factors make this source less impactful due to increased bias and lack of support. The author is incredibly qualified to speak on the subject however, he is a political science professor at Columbia