Factors Influencing On Voting Behavior-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss the Important factors that influencing on voting behavior during elections. Answer: Introduction In a democratic country, elections are one of the most importance event for citizens as well as the political parties as this has a direct impact on the democratic process and development of the country. People participate in elections so that they can choose their representative. Different people may have different rational to choose their own representative. However, in countries dominated by political parties, the voting behavior is no more a personal concept. Political figures play a key role in influencing the voting behavior and engaging in unique campaigns to catch the attention of the public. This report discusses the process of election and determines how different factors have an impact on the voting behavior of countries. Discussion on important factors influencing on voting behavior during elections The electoral process in different countries varies according to the type of government established in countries. Canada has a federal parliamentary democracy where the electoral system has evolved in response to countrys geography. The Constitution Act of 1867 and 1982 has defined the time interval after which federal elections should be held which is five year. The only exception to this rule is in the times of apprehended war or invasion. The role of geography is seen in the democratic representation because geographical divisions like electoral districts define the representation of members in the House of Common. This is a short description or overview for the elections process in Canada. Just like Canada, electoral process in other democratic countries is also defined by the constitution and certain constitutional Acts (Elections Canada Online | The Electoral System of Canada, 2017). However, the main focus of this report is not the regular electoral process in countries, but t he impact of certain political factors on voting behavior. The changes in voting behavior can be explained by proper understanding about the concept of electoral contestation. This is defined as the degree of election based competition in a political region. The presence of high and minimal contestation in a region also influences the voting behavior of people. In case of minimal contestation, the incumbent party always occupies the seat whereas in case of high contestation, frequent turnover in political power is seen (Gerring et al., 2015). It has also been found that voting behavior during the contestation process is also affected by size of unit. For example, larger geographical units have greater contestation and this in turn affects voting behavior. This can be said because larger unit has more chances of constituent diversity. Hence, political parties aiming to get the desired seat focus a lot on understanding voting behavior of citizens. This enables them to take the right strategy to bring public towards their side. The prediction o f voting behavior is mainly done by considering political, culture, religious and race of a group. In addition certain, inherent emotions, political campaigns, socialization of parties, political views and media affect the voting behavior (Gerring et al., 2015). On the basis of this explanation, it can be said that voting behavior is affected by both internal and external influence. The degree to which these factors affects voting behavior also determines whether correct democratic decision has been taken by citizens or not. Voting behavior is also modified according to type of elections. This can be said because people have different criteria while taking voting decision during presidential, legislative, local or referendum election. Therefore, the logic for taking voting decision changes if the voting is for national or regional elections. In case of national level elections, people mainly take decisions on the basis of political beliefs and in case of local elections, they try to evaluate the capability of the candidate to bring changes in the local region. In addition, evaluation of certain public policies, government performance and characteristics of individual candidates act as the major source of individual voting behavior (Mintz, Close, Croci, 2017). The evaluation of political parties or candidates by voters is again affected by attitudinal factors of citizens. For example, voters attitudes towards a party affect their ability to vote. Some citizens identify with a specific political party because of their loyalty towards the party. Hence, partisan loyalties can affect evaluation and assessment of candidates and perception of the partys contribution in the countries. Apart from this, there are certain ideological orientations too which affect voting behavior. For example, some people may have explicit understanding about political ideologies and they tend to critically analyze different factors while deciding to vote for a candidate. However, there are other sections too who have no political interest or lacks the knowledge and qualification to understand role of political parties in the development of their region. Hence, such voters are very liberals in their decision and they may be easily influenced by the current action or campaigns of political parties. On the whole, it can be said that on the basis of ideology and attitude of voters, the electoral behavior and the electoral dynamic change dramatically. One of the significant and long term change in electoral dynamics is seen when basic loyalties towards a party change all of sudden and complete realignment of the party system takes place. Personal background of voter such as their income level, occupation and upbringing also influence their decision. Race, education and religion also affects the decision to vote a candidate. There is controversial argument regarding allowing only educated people the right to vote. This is because educated people have better capability to choose the right candidate for their constituency compared to illiterate people (Mintz, Close, Croci, 2017). The relationship between socioeconomic status and voting behavior is an important topic in research. The level of education, income and occupation acts as a significant factor in influencing voting decision, voting behavior and attitude towards voting. For instance, educated voters have the best chance to have their view represented. However, there are socioeconomically disadvantaged group in the community too who rely on government programs and external provocation to engage in the voting process. Education is also considered the most importa nt socioeconomic factor in elections because it affects the voter turnout percentage. Educated people are aware about the role of the political system and the act of voting in connecting with realities of their lives. In addition they also have all the information regarding national and international events through social media (Cohen Chaffee, 2013). Hence, they regard voting as an opportunity and participate actively it. Less educated people on the other hand mostly tend to skip voting. The analysis of campaign issues and types of political campaigns during election also helps to study voting behavior. Political parties tend to use campaigns as a source to give important message to public and televisions, mass media, social media act as the major source to connect with voters and pass key political message to the public. Such campaign greatly influence voting behavior and voting decisions because it clarified the public regarding important party policies, vision and core political agendas. This helps voters to make informed choice during voting. With the advent of technology and the digital media, political leaders are taking innovative methods to disseminate campaign message to public. For example, currently advertising is regarded as a powerful tool to directly connect with public and inform them about their key political agenda (Mintz, Close, Croci, 2017). Therefore, political parties spend a huge amount in political ad campaigns to craft the best campaign messa ge and influence the choice of people during voting decision. The perception of voters regarding the candidate also has an impact on voting behavior during elections. The voter are loyal to specific parties only because of their influence on implementing important government policies or bringing significant changes in their life. However, with the use of mass media tools, political powers have taken the advantage and manipulated voters perception regarding a political figure or party. The advantage of mass media has been realized in elections because of number of reasons. Firstly, it helps to communicate political message to large group of people. Secondly, there is also scope for transmitting propaganda selectively. Thirdly, political leaders get the advantage to adopt different communication styles and format to pass the message. Hence, the way message are disseminated through media tools have an impact on voters attitude. Mass media act as powerful source to shape as well as change voting behavior (Cohen Chaffee, 2013). Several theoretical models have also tried to explain voting behavior. Political parties can take the help of sociological and psychosocial models to interpret and analysis voting behavior and develop their campaign plans accordingly. Conclusion: The report summarizes the dynamics of the electoral process by discussion about the impact of several factors on voting behavior. Apart from political ideologies and loyalty towards a party, many socioeconomic links between voting behavior and elections has also been found For instance, discussion has highlighted about the difference in voting behavior due to education, employment and religion. The attitude and perception towards political parties also challenges political powers to take innovative step to manipulate voters choice during voting process. The mass media has emerged as a powerful tool for political parties to disseminate important message and affect behavior. References: Cohen, A. K., Chaffee, B. W. (2013). The relationship between adolescents civic knowledge, civic attitude, and civic behavior and their self-reported future likelihood of voting.Education, citizenship and social justice,8(1), 43-57. Elections Canada Online | The Electoral System of Canada. (2017).Elections.ca. Retrieved 20 November 2017, from https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?dir=cesdocument=part1lang=esection=res Gerring, J., Palmer, M., Teorell, J., Zarecki, D. (2015). Demography and democracy: A global, district-level analysis of electoral contestation.American Political Science Review,109(3), 574-591. Mintz, E., Close, D., Croci, O. (2017).Politics, Power and the Common Good: An Introduction to Political Science(4th ed.). Canada: Pearson Education.