Young voters, especially, are those so opposed to voting, as if it was their own unique form of snubbing the establishment, but in their lack of presence at the polls, the establishment could wish for nothing better than to have a larger number of voters against it to simply not show up. Consider the 2008 presidential election, where a record number of minorities and youth turned out to vote, and the result was creating a significant lead for the Democratic candidate, a gap so large between the winner and loser, that was seen in neither of the two preceding elections, that elected a Republican president. One could argue that it was simply the people being utterly dissatisfied with what the former administration had done to the economy and how it handled conflicts overseas, but there was a significant increase in voters that created a voting lead so large, there was no need for a recount (Blacks, Young Voters Not Poised for High Turnout on Nov. 2 - http://www.gallup.com/poll/142877/blacks-young-voters-not-poised-high-turnout-nov.aspx). In the 2000 and 2004 elections, the turnouts were significantly lower, and the election results were difficult to decipher, because the balance of the votes were almost even. Fast forward 8 years, add in the factor of a large turnout, and it was apparent that in former elections, there was a closeted majority not utilizing their votes. If these voters were not dissuaded from voting in the past, it is quite possible previous elections would have created a different historical course. In other words, the second-guessing that occurred in 2000 and 2004, and in one election, where the Supreme Court overrode the votes of the people, could have been avoided altogether, and a true majority would have selected the president in a way that was constitutionally correct.Money and steep financial funding of political figures is another factor. Political endorsements create or foster a false majority. When so much money is concentrated on a particular political faction mostly by way of media, and the most effective form being television, because that is the best way to facilitate political information to the general public, who needs something simple to digest, in order to understand who they are voting for, or which political platforms to which they can relate. In a complete irony of how the media currently plays out in relating political viewpoints upon the general public is that of comedian Jon Stewart, who is by all means a comedian, and not what most suppose an authoritative news source. The irony stems from the fact that most serious news and media gurus look to his satirical news show as respectable form of news dissemination, while Stewart consistently emphasizes that it is anything but that, and that his show is meant to point out the facade that most media giants (as well as politicians and pundits) construct, in order to cater to some element of the establishment. Stewart was even so far as questioned by genuine news reporters, seeking some form of empathy from Stewart, by stating, "Boy, I wish I could say what you're saying." And Stewart's response to that is why can't they ask the question they want to ask? What could possibly prevent a professional newscaster from breaking from the script, and generating thought provoking or objective questions or statements...? Wait! That's the problem. The mere evidence that something as amendable as a new story or policy expression is not authorized by the main people responsible for asking the question, but instead some external as well as partial element. (1)
This external element is the point at which media begins to deteriorate the foundation of Constitutional representation of U.S. voters, because this element exists, disabling journalists and newscasters from approaching policy making and legislation with a investigative mindset that is not inhibited by whatever mysterious interests are out there heavily influencing or reshaping the content by which most U.S. voters get their information. What is it that reporters, journalists, or newscasters cannot say? Who or what is placing restrictive measures upon the free flow of news information? Some may perceive this as a product of strict editing, and that most effective sources of news are watered-down, in order to meet the certain formats, but that is a naive concept. Most editors of news may only answer to the owners of the news agency, and that alone is a private interest, that is generating a diversion of information for the purpose of gaining capital or favor from related interests. In other words, the general public is immediately receiving a biased viewpoint from self-interested parties, and that is why reporters or journalists cannot talk about the politics they genuinely wish to talk about.
So, the voter is constantly misinformed, or is receiving information about candidates that is manipulated by partisan forces, and quite possibly private interests. Through mediums like television and internet news feeds, presented by media conglomerates, the information is very easy to digest, and a much larger percentage of the population will accept the less complicated presentation of voter information, that is simply too filtered. More intellectual sources will be less appealing to the general public, and leads to disinterest. In Jon Stewart's case, the news and opinions may be simple, yet thought provoking, and offer the public an intimate perspective of political realities, but one must consider that this can be viewed by the intellectual elite as simply satire, and therefore not accepted as an authoritative source.
Most of the current news sources are seeking ratings through sensationalist stories. These are stories that play off of people's emotions. Stories that evoke emotion, a lot of political figures embrace, in order to gain more votes through those elements of an incumbent's background that may either be questionable or lacking in performance in the bureaucratic realm. Sensational news is also non-authoritative, because it places too much emphasis on characterization of a topic, and covers less of the intrinsic content, like the ethical, moral, historical or philosophical aspects of the content. Granted, the latter type of coverage may be boring and unacceptable to the average user, but how hard would it be to present the facts in a simple form, rather than have to listen to endless and repetitive stories based on slander, failure, complaining, and simply uninformative context? Emotional dialogue lends voters to turn away from voting because it fails to provide firm answers, and aids in avoiding the facts behind a certain platform or politician.
In this case, voter dissuasion is a product of discontent with how politicians and current leaders are portrayed on all sides as baseless, incongruous, and failing to meet society's needs. A society of voters needs to embrace political leaders, and by being provided a public image through the disintegrated lens of popular mass media, it is fair to say, that this relationship never comes to its fruition. It may be possible that by portraying political leaders in a sensational light, that presents negativity and apathy towards public servants, the voter feels, in a sense, betrayed, and instinctively turns away from participating in realm of politics, especially voting. It's like being a bystander in a room full of arguing people. Who would want to participate in something of that nature? If individuals weigh in the current political sphere, it is a horrendous two-party system in which one side is constantly criticizing the other, and policies take a back seat to sensationalized bickering, puritanical morality hunts, and self-fulfilling character jostling. Voters grow weary of this inane behavior, especially when the source of it is supposed to be leading by example, and not distracting the public with irrelevant communications. The voters are seeking solutions to social problems, not elaboration on faults.
Take for instance Robert Reich's recent article (http://robertreich.org/post/1285369087) on the Democrats building up blame upon China concerning the reasons for economic fallout in the U.S. and its assumed cause of high unemployment domestically. What the politicians are beginning to do is tout a platform of fear and anger against China, as a means to grasping more votes come this November, conveniently only a month away. Mr. Reich states that in no way are the Chinese responsible for the high rate of unemployment in the U.S., and that the politicians that are using this type of rhetoric, are simply utilizing an external component of politics to place the blame outside the realm of American society. He goes on to state that the real cause of recession was that the middle class was no longer able to support the economy, after experiencing an inability to borrow. So, the true cause of the recession is internal, and closely linked to the failures of domestic financial institutions, and not foreign entities. This is geographically isolating the voting public from information about the true causes of the economic downturn, and it fosters emotions, in order to get the vote out against those politicians that support Chinese foreign policies in any form or manner. If the voters cannot assess the causes of their economic problems, because the information exists beyond the capacities of international citizens' rights, and therefore the focus of inequality, like Reich notes as being domestic, has now been placed out of the control of the voting citizen base, and placed upon a global insignificance.
American voters live within a democracy, but fail to vote like citizens of one. It is not a democracy if the larger number of voters are not turning out, due to varying forms of dissuasion (whether it be intentional or not). If the people of a democracy are not voting in large numbers, then reaching the identity of the majority is never grasped, and it would lead voters to question whether it is ever possible to have their greater voices heard in Washington D.C.. This factor in itself is a form of dissuasion, and shows that there is a tremendous underlying psychology at work against the American voters, where it is acceptable to have a smaller number of people voting, and therefore, successfully disguising the minority within a smaller collection of votes.
References:
1) Smith, C. (Sept 20, 2010). America Is a Joke; The worst of times for politics and media has been the best of times for The Daily Show's host--and unfortunately things are getting even funnier. New York, p.NA. Retrieved October 08, 2010, from General OneFile via Gale:
http://find.galegroup.com/gps/start.do?prodId=IPS&userGroupName=orange_main
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