Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Elections Test

Money and popularity are the key ingredients to getting elected in today’s political environment. This often leads to foul play and decomposition of our supposedly democratic system. It is no secret that campaigns are very expensive and require funds from outside sources. Unfortunately, this is where our trouble begins.
Campaign money comes from a variety of sources including individual donors and PACs. It is the PAC’s job to raise and distribute funds for use in election campaigns. Both of these sources are considered “hard money” or money given directly to the candidate. Each has a limited amount. The problems begin when this money is “overshadowed” by soft money, or money that is given to the political party and meant for voter registration and organization. Soft money is not regulated, meaning that infinite sums could be provided for the candidate. When these groups donate large amounts of money to a candidate, the candidate is often obligated to promote the thoughts of said group. This changes the prospective of the candidate and thus renders democracy useless.
These issues continue with voter turnout, or the percent of eligible individuals who actually vote. Candidates study trends of voter turnout and then tailor their campaign around the group with the highest turnout. Again, this skews the true viewpoint, making the election process not democratic. It creates a bias as politicians act upon interests of those proven to vote consistently. Even though the public has the right to choose to vote, the election process would be more democratic if voter turnout was higher. If turnout was more consistent, it would make bias harder to achieve, thus we would be more likely to hear the truth from our candidates. Because this is not happening, candidates see that the bias is necessary to get elected.
Political Parties also sway who a voter votes for. A political identity is found early in life and is usually based on parent’s political views or the views of the surrounding area. This would not be a problem, except many people only vote within their party, whether they like the candidate or not. This is called partisan identity and is not likely to change unless a major crisis occurs in the voter’s life. The issue remains because many people do not take the time to understand the views of the candidate and only vote by their political identity.
Bias in the media also effects public perception of political figures and their ideals. As seen in Journeys with George, many of the things on campaign trails are staged to promote a positive image on the candidate. That means that we the voters cannot possibly see who the real candidate is without going to some sort of event for the candidate. The public will not do this and will only continue to view the public through the lens of a studio camera. If the truth is not accurately shown, then we cannot accurately vote, meaning that the election process becomes less and less democratic.
In today’s society it takes a great deal of money, and a positive image to be elected. These two things often bring about falsehoods within the campaign. The method is not truly democratic because of how money is attained, voter turnout, voter identity, and media bias. Although the method is not truly democratic, with all of these factors working against a candidate, cheating is often the only way they can hope to be elected.