It is certainly the fact that in a democracy, where the ultimate authority lies with the citizen, the right to vote is so fundamental to the success of that democracy. Despite this, the evolution from 1789 when only 6% of the people in the United States participated in the election of President Washington has only increased until today only 71% form the pool of eligible voters (Lawson, 2014). To this extent, it is possible to say that the fight for the right to vote in the United States is yet to be declared victorious. This is attributed to the fact that a greater part of the eligible voters are still confronted with obstacles that hinder them from exercising the ultimate authority conferred to them. It is therefore the position of this essay that until the percentage of the pool of eligible voters increases to at least 90%, the democracy of the United States is still incomplete as a significant part of the voters are not exercising their civic rights.
Voting rights have indeed evolved over time, first being in terms of demographic eligibility to vote, where from 1789 only 6% of the population was viable to elect the president, until 2017 when the margin has grown to at least 71%. Another aspect of evolution has been on the rights of minorities to vote (Rugh & Massey, 2014). For example, until 1920, women were not conferred the right to vote, this being in addition to black women who until 1945 after the second World War were not eligible to vote (Ramirez, Soysal, & Shanahan, 1997). The right to vote has also evolved in terms of the eligibility depending on one’s social class ranging from 1789 when only land owners were eligible to exercise the right while today, such restriction has been eradicated pursuant to the 26 th Amendment (Buechler, 1990).
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The perception in a few people’s minds that voting does not change a thing is premised on the postulations of Franklin Roosevelt that “Presidents are selected, not elected” (Shugart & Taagepera, 1994). The people holding such opinions have therefore been under the impression that there are powerful corporations that influence presidents, politicians and general government policy. Former presidents such as Eisenhower have warned of an impending “misplaced” power that bears global influence on humanity have hinted this. Woodrow Wilson also hinted on a subtle, watchful and pervasive power that many prominent men in the United States would not speak against (Shugart & Taagepera, 1994). For such reasons, people therefore believe that despite having the power to elect their leaders, there is another powerful force that controls the actions of these elected leaders to an extent that does not represent the will of the people, hence the perception that voting doesn’t change anything. Considering these statements, an election only changes faces.
Despite the lower percentage in terms of voter legibility standing at 71%, the evolution of the right to vote has taken a backward step, with the invalidation of section 4 of the Voting Rights, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Operating in tandem with section 5, the invalidation of section 4 reflects a retrogressive step into the fight for equality of right to vote beyond racial discrimination. Personally, with such retrogressive evolution of the right to vote, the United States does not a good example as a modern democracy, when it comes to the right to vote.
References
Buechler, S. M. (1990). Women's movements in the United States: woman suffrage, equal rights, and beyond. Rutgers University Press.
Lawson, S. F. (2014). Running for freedom: Civil rights and black politics in America since 1941. John Wiley & Sons.
Ramirez, F. O., Soysal, Y., & Shanahan, S. (1997). The changing logic of political citizenship: Cross-national acquisition of women's suffrage rights, 1890 to 1990. American sociological review , 735-745.
Rugh, J. S., & Massey, D. S. (2014). Segregation in post-civil rights America. Du Bois review: social science research on race, 11(02) , 205-232.
Shugart, M. S., & Taagepera, R. (1994). Plurality Versus Majority Election of Presidents A Proposal for a “Double Complement Rule'. Comparative Political Studies, 27(3) , 323-348.
