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Voting is a privilege and a right. A right that was denied for millions of people. Only until the passing of the Voting Rights Act did minorities have a chance to not only vote, but change the face of the government. Before 1965, minorities, especially blacks, faced violent opposition in an attempt to stifle their voices and control the way the government nominates its officials.
Now that President Obama has shown what can happen when minorities are given a voice in politics, there have come some major setbacks. The nation in the next presidential election will adopt one of two sides, a far left or a far right. With the recent death of Head Justice Scalia and the refusal of Congress to allow the nomination of Merrick Garland, it is safe to say the nation is in turmoil in several ways. To understand how things became so unstable it is important to focus on the roots of the current situations befalling the United States, beginning with Citizens United, voter turnout, the Voting Rights Act, SUPER PACs, Scotus appointment, midterm elections, and ending with the current state of the nominations.
Citizens United is two unlike but correlated things. The first is a Supreme Court case concerning election spending. Short background on the case reveals a non-profit corporation produced a 90-minute documentary criticizing Hillary Clinton back in 2008 ("What is Citizens United? -- An Introduction," 2012). At this time, she was strong contender for presidency. Titled Hillary: The Movie, the documentary led to decreased support for Clinton during the Presidential Democratic Primary and a court case on how funds can be used during a campaign/election. The Citizens United is a PAC or Political Action Committee that served as plaintiff in the Citizens United Supreme Court case.
Founded in 1988 by Floyd Brown, Citizens United became a PAC and received major funding from industrialists who owned...
Promoting corporate interests, candidates who advance their goals, and socially conservative causes the organization's famous court case led to the removal of some restrictions on how businesses/corporations can spend capital in elections. It also led to campaign spending sky-rocketing from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions. Experts say the extra money does not affect the results of a campaign, but many believe it does as the media has a powerful hold on the way the American populace recognizes and votes for political candidates. Donald Trump for example, was highly publicized during the recent Republican Presidential Primaries and won the nomination.
Voting is an integral part of the democratic system. When voter turnout runs low, and only certain groups of people vote, it changes the way the government is run in more ways than one. Compared to other nations like Canada and Slovenia, the United States has a low voter turnout compared to the percentage of registered voters. Registered voters for the United States in 2012 was 84.3% (DeSilver & DeSilver, 2015). Voter turnout was 53.6%. More than 30% of registered voters did not vote in 2012.
Low voter turnout has always been a part of American politics. Some of it had to do with racial inequality and the rest had to do with lack of motivation to vote. When Bill Clinton was re-elected in 1996, only 48% of the voting population voted. In 2008 it went up to 57%. Some may say certain groups are less willing to vote like youths and the disenfranchised. During Obama's campaign, President Obama encouraged the youth to step up and vote clinching his victory and increasing voter turnout, albeit a bit more than normal. Going back to the disenfranchised, many people before 1965 could not vote in America, simply because they were not white.
The Voting…
References
DeSilver, D. & DeSilver, D. (2015). U.S. voter turnout trails most developed countries. Pew Research Center. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/06/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/
Justice,. (2016). History Of Federal Voting Rights Laws -- CRT -- Department of Justice. Justice.gov. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from https://www.justice.gov/crt/history-federal-voting-rights-laws
Meko, T., Keating, D., Urhmacher, K., & Stamm, S. (2016). Everything you need to know about appointing a Supreme Court justice. Washington Post. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/scotus-nominees/
Super PACs -- OpenSecrets. (2016). Opensecrets.org. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/superpacs.php
What is Citizens United? -- An Introduction. (2012). Reclaim Democracy!. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from http://reclaimdemocracy.org/who-are-citizens-united/
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