One of the hallmarks of a democracy is the theoretically strong relationship between political participation and the health of that democracy. Political scientists use the statistic “voter turnout” to describe political participation in the electoral process. Voter turnout (or VT) is calculated by dividing the number of votes cast in a particular election by the number of registered voters (in other words, the number of votes divided by who could have voted). The level of VT in the US is relatively lower than in other democracies. Please respond to the following questions:
1) If Americans live in such a great democracy, why do they vote at rates which are among the lowest in the democratic world? Why do other democracies have higher voter turnout? Is the problem psychological? Cultural? Institutional? Please discuss at least three possible reasons that directly relate to low VT in the US.
2) Assuming that low voter turnout in the U.S. is a problem (an assumption you may wish to challenge), how would you attempt to increase voter turnout? Please discuss at least two possible ways to increase VT in the US.