Political participation inequality and wealth in American democracy

Power in the U.S.

Power in America

Sociologists use the term state to refer to the organized system of power and authority in society. However, this power often guess unnoticed any nearly everyone takes it for granted. Every time we drive on a road or take a holiday vacation we are involved with the government is some shape or fashion. The government and the systems of social organization are so powerful and so pervasive that most of us don't ever stop to consider the presence of these systems. The state has a central role in determining the rights and privleges that various groups have in countries like the United States. Furthermore, the United States is a democracy so therefore you might assume that most people would actively participate in a part of life that is so seemingly important.

However, despite what might seem rational, it is generally the case that only a fraction of the population participates in the democracy. The only time that half the citizens with the ability to vote turn out, is in Presidential elections, and even though it is generally barely half.

The highest voter turnout for an election since 1980 was in 2008 when Barack Obama received a 58.8% turnout of the potential voting aged population. In other years, not even a majority of the potential voters turned out; such as in 1996 when only 49.1% of the voters made it to the polls.

This creates a situation in which a small percentage of the population exercises an increased amount of control politically against the rest of the public. There are disparities in the political participation that generally favor the more advantage among the American people (Donne, 2004). Although many people feel that the government's role should be to treat people equally, political scientists have been finding what many others have already known intuitively; that the ordinary citizens are not receiving the best treatment.