Mandatory voting should be instituted and election day should be a holiday

[Edward]

We have one of the lowest voter turnout rate in the developed world and big money are buying our politicians. We have a two party system that prevents other parties from playing a pivotal role. Not only that, but we are a free rider society - those who enjoy the benefits from activities without paying the costs of participation  (things like public education, universal healthcare, minimum wage, workplace safety, etc. came as the result of political participation). Also, people complain about the condition of the country and how the nation's leaders are cynical, yet, on election day, most do not participate. They have their reasons for this though, including work, family, school, and more, all of which prevent them from taking part in one of the most political participation in a democracy.

 

In order to restore faith in our democracy, restore the American dream, get big money out of politics, reclaim our government, and make America the once great country most nations looked up to, should we institute mandatory voting and make election day a holiday? 

 

We can't try spreading democracy across the globe if we're not living up to our own ideals. 

[Guest hawkeye]

atheism has infected politics and stopped people voting. making atheism illegal would help stop the fall of democracy as atheist want what it is in communist russia.

[Aerys Targaryen]

atheism has infected politics and stopped people voting. making atheism illegal would help stop the fall of democracy as atheist want what it is in communist russia.

 

Correct !! We should burn the atheists and their science text books and go back to the dark ages...

[Odin]

Proportional representation would make more sense. Compulsory voring only leads to the creation of nonsense or protest parties. 

I think tradition-voters* are a much bigger threat to democracy then non-voters, because they promote the decadence of the established parties.

You know.. Making populist promises during the election campaign, then breaking them, since:

"....who cares? We get so or so elected next time again!"

 

In many cases non-voters became non-voters because they just gave up, seeing everytime the same parties winning.

With a proportional system you could at least see a trend, or with some more % a representation.

2 Parties is just 1 Party away from Dictatorship >_>

 

 

 

*Those who vote a part because they've always voted for them regardless the reasons, don't know the english word

Edited July 30, 2015 by Wilhelm II

[Arthur James]

CAn i vote dislike for 2 types of people? 

Two parties is one party??? Does it related to international stages and foreign issue?

Edited July 30, 2015 by Arthur James

[Bored now Leafing]

So let's see most people figured out the vote is rigged so they are not voting, i got a great idea let's force them to vote by throwing them in cages and taking away everything they own for refusing to vote and legitimize this flustercuck so many call a government, oh and if they resist we can shoot them dead, ya such a great idea...

Takes an absents of critical thinking to think this stuff up.

Edited July 30, 2015 by Quew

[LordRahl2]

Compulsory voting does nothing for any of the 'problems' that you listed.

[Wayne]

... but I don't wanna vote!

[Alex]

I don't think mandatory voting is going to solve anything. Generally, those that are educated and follow politics go out and vote. I don't want the guy who doesn't know the first thing about politics or government being forced to go to the polls and just pick "Clinton" or "Bush" because he's seen that name before. I want people who watch the news, watch the political debates, etc. voting (whether they vote the same way as I do or not).

 

Election Day as a holiday is a good idea, I think. Also, why make it just one day? Make it a weekend, and that might give people more opportunities to vote. Most (if not all) states do have absentee voting, where you just mail in your ballot, and I believe Oregon (might be a different state) has 100% mail-in voting (no going to the polls).

 

As for having more than two parties, I think that actually leads to a more unstable government. You see in European countries with multi-party systems loose coalitions. At the end of the day, government is going to break down to 2 sides, whether you have 2 parties or 10 parties. All that happens in the multi party system is that you have strange compromises (the party for protecting the environment coalesces with the party for hardcore theists, perhaps, so that they can each better push their respective agendas) with no real solid foundation. When it becomes more beneficial for a certain party to completely flip coalitions, they will, which like I said can lead to some fast-changing radical shifts in government.

[Lan]

Mandatory voting just means violating peoples rights and a whole lot of people making ignorant, completely uneducated votes.

[Diocletian]

Yeah, because there's no better a shining example of freedumb than forcing people to do something that they simply choose to not do. These troll posts lately though, no one can seriously be such a hardcore advocate of authoritarian social policies. I guess the most dedicated of socialists masquerade as "liberals" in this nation so maybe it's believable.

Edited July 30, 2015 by Robert House

[Solomon]

Compulsory voting does nothing for any of the 'problems' that you listed.

That's not true. In Brazil, for example, voting is compulsory for 18+ year-olds but there is the option to make a null vote if you don't feel any of the candidates are worthwhile. In practice, what this means is that some people take affront at being forced to vote and automatically vote "em branco" but there are other people who consider that since they have to vote, they may as well put a bit of effort into finding out what the candidates and parties stand for. This latter group is particularly interesting because they are more likely to vote on the issues than the party brand.

[Edward]

I don't think mandatory voting is going to solve anything. Generally, those that are educated and follow politics go out and vote. I don't want the guy who doesn't know the first thing about politics or government being forced to go to the polls and just pick "Clinton" or "Bush" because he's seen that name before. I want people who watch the news, watch the political debates, etc. voting (whether they vote the same way as I do or not).

 

Election Day as a holiday is a good idea, I think. Also, why make it just one day? Make it a weekend, and that might give people more opportunities to vote. Most (if not all) states do have absentee voting, where you just mail in your ballot, and I believe Oregon (might be a different state) has 100% mail-in voting (no going to the polls).

 

As for having more than two parties, I think that actually leads to a more unstable government. You see in European countries with multi-party systems loose coalitions. At the end of the day, government is going to break down to 2 sides, whether you have 2 parties or 10 parties. All that happens in the multi party system is that you have strange compromises (the party for protecting the environment coalesces with the party for hardcore theists, perhaps, so that they can each better push their respective agendas) with no real solid foundation. When it becomes more beneficial for a certain party to completely flip coalitions, they will, which like I said can lead to some fast-changing radical shifts in government.

Sheepy, you offered the most constructive response. Perhaps we do not need mandatory voting so people like know nothing Joe votes out of popularity based on who they heard about or seen on the ballot first. This is not healthy for democracy. I've seen first hand people who try to engage in discussions with me or be posting stuff on Facebook when they do not know a thing or two about politics, so this point of yours is very valid.

 

I 100% agree with you that we should make Election Day a weekend, which will give more people (educated or not), the chance to vote. This will increase the voting turnout rate, as most people do want to vote, but because of demanding schedule, they do not have time to vote.

 

I concede to your point that more than two parties leads to unstable government, European countries loose coalitions being prime example.

Edited July 31, 2015 by Edward

[Edward]

atheism has infected politics and stopped people voting. making atheism illegal would help stop the fall of democracy as atheist want what it is in communist russia.

I'm not getting your logical? How exactly has atheism infected politics and stopped people from voting? 

[LordRahl2]

That's not true. In Brazil, for example, voting is compulsory for 18+ year-olds but there is the option to make a null vote if you don't feel any of the candidates are worthwhile. In practice, what this means is that some people take affront at being forced to vote and automatically vote "em branco" but there are other people who consider that since they have to vote, they may as well put a bit of effort into finding out what the candidates and parties stand for. This latter group is particularly interesting because they are more likely to vote on the issues than the party brand.

Fascinating. Did you mean to reply to me? Because I do not see how that applies.

[Alex]

Sheepy, you offered the most constructive response. Perhaps we do not need mandatory voting so people like know nothing Joe votes out of popularity based on who they heard about or seen on the ballot first. This is not healthy for democracy. I've seen first hand people who try to engage in discussions with me or be post stuff on Facebook when they do not know a thing or two about politics, so this point of yours is very valid.

 

I 100% agree with you that we should make Election Day a weekend, which will give more people (educated or not), the chance to vote. This will increase the voting turnout rate, as most people do want to vote, because demanding schedule prevent them of doing so.

 

I concede to your point that more than two parties leads to unstable government, European countries loose coalitions being prime example.

 

Remember, too, that these are just my opinions. There are pros to mandatory voting, and the European-style multi party system.

 

I, personally, think that people who don't bother with politics (and just don't care) should be left out of the system. Let people who follow it and know something make the decisions is my opinion.

However, like Solomon stated, there are pros to making everyone vote (especially assuming there's an abstain option on the ballot). It could encourage people to become more involved in the process, which is always good.

[Kyoko]

Right now voting for candidates in Amerikkka is mostly irrelevant since both the political partys are parties that only seek to represent the interests of the capitalist class.