Low Voter Turnout In The United States

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The United States is considered a democracy. Anyone over eighteen is allowed to vote, and The U.S. is built on the idea of a government run by the people. The definition of a democracy is a government where the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them. Citizens in a democracy should be able to exercise their rights freely, and have a say in their government. Other countries such as Canada and Switzerland have a democratic government. there are differences in how the nation 's government works for many reasons, one being that Switzerland is much smaller than the U.S so they can do things the U.S, can not. However all the countries following a democratic government are run with similar values, that the people run …show more content…
The low voter turnout is causing the U.S. to be less of a democracy every day. Many people will say that a democracy only means people have the right to vote, and everyone does have the right to vote in the United States. But a democracy means much more. If people are not voting then the Nation is not being run by its people, because the majority of the people are not putting in their say. This is true because if a president wins by 51% but the voter turnout was only 40%, then only 21% of the nation approves of the president. This means that the Uniteds States are being run by the minority of the country and not the whole, all the people are not part of the government. Another problem with low voter turnout is that it usually means that people feel like voting for one candidate or the other will not make a difference. The people have disengaged themselves from politics, and are not contributing to the government. For a democracy, which is run by the people to work, everyone needs to contribute to the government, and without voting people are not doing their part. ( Voter Turnout) in 2012 only 57.5% of eligible voters, voted in the presidential election. (2012 Voter Turnout Report) That means that only half of the country is being represented, and taking part in the government. This is killing the democratic ideal of everyone having a voice. If voting turnout does not increase the United States is going to continue to shift farther and farther from everyone being represented like they should. The country will be run by a small group of people not

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