Expansion Suffrage and American Politics Essay
?The eventual successes of voting rights movements are less a testament to the American political system?s capacity to incorporate excluded groups than a reminder of how much that system advantages those defending the status quo. What is truly striking is how long reform generally took, and how partial and fragile it often was when it finally arrived.?Expansion Suffrage and American Politics Essay
Your essay should clearly state your position on the merits of this assertion, back up your position with clear reasoning and evidence, and consider the most plausible objections to the position you take. Draw on the readings, lectures, section discussions, and what you have learned about American politics in developing your answer.Expansion Suffrage and American Politics Essay
You should write 4-6 pages. The paper should be written in 12-point font with one inch margins and should be double-spaced.
ideas:
? Did the expansion suffrage explain the flexibility of the political institution or the status quo bias of the political institution
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Flexible or entrenched??
The implication that the system is set up
The facts of how suffrage expanded/entrenched of power/ undemocratic features?In text citations
Thesis statement. I will argue that ?
A reminder of ..
Some people argue that suffrage is to testify
Or the actual way? how much testify the existed status quota is a reminder
Testament of status quote bias It is striking how long it took
During various electioneering periods, so many eligible Americans have been denied their civic right to vote. There has been widespread voter suppression especially against those sections of the population considered to be historically marginalized (Valelly, 2013). During these periods (election cycles), a huge population of qualified American voters is denied the chance to democratically have their input in deciding their leaders through the complicated process of registration, barriers on casting votes as well as segregator and fraudulent district boundaries. This paper takes the stance that the eventual successes of voting rights movements can only be equated to the testament to the capacity of the political system of the United States to incorporate excluded groups. It does not in any way act as a reminder of the extent to which the system took advantage of the prevailing circumstances to protect the existing state of affairs.Expansion Suffrage and American Politics Essay
Analysis
Based on the above statement, it is important to note that as much as this unethical practice cut across the US, it varies from one state or county to another. Also, as much as some voter discrimination practices aim to create boundaries for certain groups of people, others occur as a result of errors in the parts of administrators (Jacobson, 2017). Therefore, irrespective of the reasons behind voter suppression, it is unhealthy because it prevents eligible American citizens from exercising their constitutionally provided and protected rights and duties. However, it still remains unclear why the reform to establish voting rights took long to finally yield results. However, the voting rights finally arrived and those who agitated for universal suffrage began to celebrate the fruits of their labour.
This struggle took the trajectory of both fragile and partial feelings when it finally resulted into voter freedom (Starr, 2019). From a personal perspective, I tend to disagree with this assertion for several obvious reasons that eligible American citizens often go through when election cycles arrive. Statistic from 2013 alone puts the number of eligible US citizens denied the opportunity to exercise their civic right of electing their leaders through a ballot at approximately twelve million (Starr, 2019). This is a huge number of voters. It is true to say that as early as the 1960s, there were several attempts to help safeguard the voting right of marginalized groups but as time went by, there were attempts to take away this constitutional right by some self-centered parties for various reasons.Expansion Suffrage and American Politics Essay
Through enacts, political suffrage was expanded but still, so many individuals find themselves disadvantaged on what was intended to corporate everyone without discrimination. It may be argued by some groups that there is political suffrage in the American electoral system and policies but an insight view of the same indeed indicates that so many eligible citizens are quietly suffering (Starr, 2019). Take an example of the Supreme Court verdict of June 2013 that took American voter?s rights back to the pre-1965 era when voting discriminatory cases were the order of the day.
America should be proud of suffrage that is accessible to all eligible US citizens because this is the fundamental principle of the American democratic values. Every individual?s vote should count irrespective of his social and political background and our set of legislations that govern voting exercise should be a life to this. Our elections should therefore directly reflect the aspirations of the whole society (Jacobson, 2017). It in this regard that I feel, if a marginalized group such as African-Americans, students, and low-income earners were given equal opportunity to cast their votes then the political class would find it difficult to ignore their issues. A voting system that is open and transparent to all qualified citizens simply means Legitimacy.
In terms of flexibility or entrenchment, I think the system is no flexible at all. There are confirmed cases of illegitimacy in terms of voter accessibility, registration process, registration deadlines, age limits, State and district boundaries among others. Several states have indeed put measures and legislations to address some of these issues but this should go beyond states. Take an example of New York and Utah states that have passed legislation legitimizing online registration and New Hampshire and California that have passed legislation allowing Election Day registration; these are advancements that should be adopted by every state (Starr, 2019). Also, the issue of district, county or state boundaries that limit voters from excising their rights can be addressed by allowing voters to cast their votes anywhere within their respective boundaries.
Although some questions about our electoral institutions need to be answered it is only fair that despite challenges faced as a nation, a lot has been done that have positive implications associated with this suffrage. As mentioned earlier, some states have moved with speed to accept Election Day registration as well as legitimizing online registration (Jacobson, 2017). On the same note, several counties currently allow voters to vote at any polling station within their counties (Valelly, 2013).Expansion Suffrage and American Politics Essay
Further, there have been enactments that address the issues of voting absenteeism that go as far as giving excuses to workers to have permission from work to vote. Other measures that have been put in place to address associated issues include enactment of constitutional languages equal rights to vote, restoration of ex-felons voting rights in certain states, encouragement of early voting, reforms on voter-challenge processes, putting in place legislation prohibiting voter caging among others (Jacobson, 2017). In this regard, credit has to be given to states that have laid such guidelines to address issues that have still proved a stumbling block despite attempts of suffrage.
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In general, I will argue from a personal perspective that the American people and political institutions have to be alive to the American democratic principles that give equal rights and opportunities to eligible citizens to exercise their civic right of voting without any form of discrimination (Jacobson, 2017). The political class has to put in place proper policies that expand suffrage owing to the current state of affairs that every individual ought to be heard, and the only way they can air their issues is through the ballot. Again, I will argue that legislation that primarily addresses issues affecting issues of suffrage should be deliberated in a bipartisan manner right from the legislative houses, state departments, regional governments as well as the Federal governments so that voting boundaries get expanded not just on paper but by practice too (Starr, 2019). The deliberations should again bring every stakeholder on board because it is the only way issues of marginalized groups will be incorporated.
Conclusion
To summarize, the eventual successes of voting rights movements can only be equated to the testament to the capacity of the political system of the United States to incorporate excluded groups. As a reminder, the American people should be alive to the principles of democracy that the pioneers of these policies of voting rights dreamt of, a society where every member has the right to be heard irrespective of their background. The actual way to ensure that America walk the right path of genuine suffrage expansion is to put in place legislations that give every American equal opportunity to be actively involved in election exercise without any form of discrimination since it will be the only way to evaluate as to how much testify the existed status quo is a reminder.Expansion Suffrage and American Politics Essay
References
Valelly Rick (July 2, 2013). Is the Voting Rights Act Dead? Washington Monthly. Available at (https://washingtonmonthly.com/people/rick-valelly/).
Starr, P. (2019). Entrenchment: Wealth, Power, and the Constitution of Democratic Societies. Yale University Press.
Jacobson, G. C. (2017). The electoral connection, then and now. Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, 35-64.
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Expansion Suffrage and American Politics Essay
