Social economic status of an individual affects his political opinion in that people tend to make decisions and suggestions that would benefit them, a low class person would argue against a political view that is aimed at benefiting those who are in higher social classes. Gender and geography affect political opinions in that males will vote for a political opinion that is for their benefit and people from the urban areas will vote for a political opinion aimed at benefiting those in the urban areas.
Media provides service to the political system, it acts like a community forum, media holds the whole society together, it entertains, it sets the agenda, it provides services to the economic forum, media is informative, it provides surveillance and media educates the community. think the press we have in the U.S is a free press since its work is not dictated by the government.
The media has being doing a lot in bringing out the people in power so that they are held accountable for their actions. The media has also been exposing some acts of the government that are not for the benefit of the people. The media needs to be given more freedom so as to serve the public well.
Interest groups: These are organizations that are aimed at influencing political decisions. They aim at making the public vote in a certain way. Types: “Fire brigade” groups, single issue groups and sectional groups.
The sectional group is the most powerful because they have political agendas that are well defined and the resources required to have a lot of influence politically. These groups use their members to cause political influence. They also use methods like letter writing campaigns and lobbying in times of elections. Formation of interest groups is regulated by the government so as to reduce the influence of the interest groups. The information that the interest groups gives to the public should be monitored.
Political parties are organizations that are aimed at maintaining the political power in the government after attain it through elections. They are the main way of exercising political powers, they select candidates who are qualified for contesting the elections, they provide the government and also the opposition, they maintain the government machinery, they provide a means for people to influence decisions, provide avenues for political discussions add/or debates and they also develop policies.
It is a type of party system where two parties dominate the elections in all the positions. There are only two parties that are the Republican and the democrats, and these parties dominate all the posts in the elections. All the elected positions are held by the party with the majority votes. The two party systems completely divide the citizens. The current system benefits only those who are in the party with the majority votes. We should introduce more electoral forms in the U.S so as to remove the major division which exists between the democrats and the republicans.
Voter turnout is the percentage of all the registered voters who cast their votes in an election. Low voter turn out will result in the government being less accountable because it was voted by the minority group. The US experiences low turnout rates because of the ignorance of some citizens towards voting. People should be enlightened more on the benefits of voting and also more time allowed enabling people to travel. One feels as part of the government because he/she participated in making the government that is in place. Their power increases.
Elderly people will tend to ignore the voting exercise, education tends to bring out the benefits of voting and people of low social status will find it hard to vote if there are expenses that must be incurred before voting. Educated people will vote for a party they believe will benefit them, members of a certain class will vote for a party they hope to gain from and people of the same gender will tend to vote for each other.
The typical voter is that individual who is not influenced by any person or group on how to vote and they tend to vote for a party they believe will benefit them as individuals. These patterns will end up producing politicians that do not have good qualities and they tend to represent their own interests. People need to be educated on the benefits of voting. The person in the office may either advocate for a better economy or worsen the economy.
REFERENCES LIST
- James Kurth (1999), the Oxford Companion to American Military History, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 440-442
