By Tyrell Christopher TG15

 Define Voter Turnout  Political participation is any activity that shapes, affects, or involves the political sphere  Give recent voter turnout stats – 1979: 79.0 to 2005 :61.3  Refer to reasons why people vote the way they do e.g. Rational choice –sanders 1996 on the economy  Turnout has been declining for more than 30 years but is still higher today than earlier in this century.

 Modern forms of political participation should be understood to be new ways participating in politics instead of traditional ways. New ways could be joining human rights campaigns.  For some people Politics is not important in their life's which is more interesting than political activity  You cant really do anything to force people to vote. Refer to how many countries e.g. Australia use compulsory voting which is an infringement of liberties  Increase in the amount “donkey votes”

 Parliament reflects more accurately the "will of the electorate."  Governments must consider the total electorate in policy formulation and management.  Edmund Burke – “It is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph “  It is a counter to the rise of political extremism  1800 – one vote in the electoral college made Thomas Jefferson President over Aaron Burr.

 We can put the polling stations in more convenient places e.g. a supermarket  E-voting was introduced in many countries but was seen as a security threat with hackers and identity theft.  As stated before compulsory voting could be introduced but Australia also has a much higher rate of spoiled ballots than nearly any other democracy.  Postal voting –People could post to vote but did not show an increase in voter turnout.

 Voter Turnout is the not the most important factor in determining political participation.  Pressure group membership is on the rise with political parties seen to becoming more consensus politics  Contentment: Lack of participation indicates satisfaction with the status quo—if they were upset about an issue, people would participate. This is also seen as hpathy.Refer to how people only vote at times of crisis, turnout increased when the Nazis started their extremism and the conflict with left and right.  These are modern times which means you can inflict human rights or some people are JUST not interested.In 1890’s in America Live pigs were given to voters to make them vote for certain people.