How Voter Turnout, Campaigns, Media and Public Opinion Affect Politics in the US

This article discusses the impact of voter turnout, campaigns, media and public opinion on politics in the US. It covers issues affecting voter turnout, the behind-the-scenes of campaigns, media regulations and how media influences public opinion.

Running head: POLITICAL SCIENCE
POLITICAL SCIENCE
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Chapter 7:
1) What are some issues that affect voter turnout?
For a democracy to survive it is very important that the larger part of the
population participates in the voting process and directly takes part in the democratic
system. The higher voter turnout rate ensures that the voice of the people is reflected in
the ballot boxes and the candidate or the party which is actually wanted by the people of
the country in general.
There are various factors that are important in affecting the voter turnout in the
country. Some of these factors are the campaigns by the political parties, the recent
national and regional issues, weather on the voting day and similar other factors.
However it is seen that the very young population is often wary of voting because
of their lesser interest in politics and voting. The young population is often seen not
registering themselves in the voting process. Therefore this is one of the issues that
persist about the turnout of the voters in the election process. Lesser voters are obviously
a setback for the nation and the body that is given the rights to conduct the total election
process. Presently it is seen that the highest voter turnout happens within the age of 25 to
44 year (Openstax Section 7.2). The legal voting age is 18 years, however it is seen that
the people of the country between the age of 18 to 25 is not coming out to vote in
appropriate numbers which must be taken care of.
2) Discuss some examples of what goes behind a campaign.
Campaigning is one of the most important aspects of an election because if the
different parties are not expressing their standpoints about different issues then the people
cannot effectively vote and chose the political party they want. The campaigns are
designed in a way that the people are aware about the positions taken by the various
political parties about different issues that are taking place in the country at that particular
point of time. There are various activities that take place behind the doors of the
campaigns. The election campaign fund raiser is the primary such activity. The election
campaigns need a steady amount of money that is required for the advertisements
(Openstax Section 7.4). During the advertisement campaigns there is a lot of money that
is being spent so that the advertisements could be given in the television, newspaper,
hoardings and social media. This is one of the crucial areas by which the parties can
garner votes from the common people of the country. The campaign also has to be
formulated and designed by expert campaigners so that the message which is required to
be projected comes out in the proper way and people can connect with the message that is
being projected. These are the various activities that are conducted behind the election
campaigns so that the people are convinced to vote for a particular political party or
candidate.
3) In regards to the U.S. government, explain some ways in which media is governed.
Every country has a particular way in which the media is governed. There are
fixed set of laws and expressions that shape the way in which the particular news stories

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are expressed in the media. When the constitution of the United States of America was
formed the process was done in a secret system where no journalists were called.
However later the document was made public and the various newspapers could make
commentaries about it (Opensax section 8.3). The First Amendment of the constitution
was mainly the most important amendment that gave the constitution the clauses that
were necessary to make a free press which was considered necessary to strengthen the
democratic system. Press and media is considered to be the fourth pillar of the
democracy.
The media does not have the right to commit offences like Slander and
Libel in the United States of America. This means that the media must refrain from
speaking or printing false information against a person, group or entity. The media must
be well aware about the limitations and regulations that is existing within the borders of
the country. The media also cannot publish any information that can be termed as
classified. This is one of the most important issue in the country because the leakage of
information can cause harm to the national interest of the country and the security of the
country may be at stake because of such reason.
4) All of us have been a part of the world of media in one way or another. In terms of
public opinion and politics, examine a couple of ways in which the media can
influence this.
The media is one of the most powerful influencing mechanism in the society. It
influences the public opinion in the most influential way. The newspapers and the media
house plays an important role in portraying a certain party or candidate in the positive
light or negative light. The people in general are swayed according to the reports of the
various media. In the recent elections of the United States where the main two contenders
were Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and both of them were either supported by the
media or vehemently condemned (Openstax section 8.4). The media houses were
vertically divided into two parallel sections. This has great impact on the public opinion
of the country and the public of the country also got divided into two sections those who
supported and where against both the candidates and the political parties. The election
campaigns are also often projected in a bad light where the negative aspects of the
candidates or the parties are highlighted. Therefore the public opinion and the politics of
the country can be largely influenced by the media. The political parties and the
candidates are wary of such developments and they are careful enough not to do any
activities that can be projected wrongly in the media which may form negative public
opinion.

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Bibliography:
Cnx.org (2018). American Government. [online] Cnx.org. Available at:
https://cnx.org/contents/W8wOWXNF@18.1:SjdU64Og@4/Introduction [Accessed 3 Nov.
2018].