Case Study Saint Vincent and the Grenadines & Trinidad and Tobago Under the old colonial order when voting was restricted to those of property Voting was restricted to those of property. In other words, the political system reflected the interests of the propertied. However, with the advent of two major historical breakthroughs, the character of politics changed in the English speaking Caribbean region. Firstly, the Universal Adult Suffrage was fought and won during the period 1944 to 1953. As a result, all young people ages 21 years and older exercised their rights to vote. Secondly, in the 1970s, the voting age was lowered from the age 21 years to 18 years. Consequently, these events caused a ripple effect that positively impacted voters’ …show more content…
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, 1984). So if our adolescents, youth and middle aged adults, can not enjoy these special rights during their transistion stages to late adulthood, how can they can recognition in their societies as full adults? In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago, young people are most sensitive to unemployment and the lack of opportunities for education and training. For instance, “Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have secondary education enrolment rates at or above 100%) as opposed to Trinidad and Tobago (from 103% to 89%)” (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 2012). Education is still the most important priority since its foundation in youth development and the alleviation of many of youth social ills. But if the role of education is not appropriately addressed, the enormous gaps between Caribbean countries will continue to widen. Subsequently, youth voters may think of they are marginalized for less educated and skilled and no established careers to make informed decisions, hence they do not turn out to vote. So for us, this situation suggests that young people are somewhat alienated from engaging in the decision-making process on matters that mostly affect them. This alienation, albeit incidental or deliberate further suggests why young people are less inclined to get involve in the electoral cycle, leaving the older electorates (30 years and over) to continue to vote for their political partisans merely out of loyalty rather than
augmented fivefold, which was a staggering increase, even though some scholars viewed the increase as a clear parity that created a gap between the rich and the poor. These scholars acknowledge the contribution of industrial giants such as Andrew Carnegie as well as John D. Rockefeller in revolutionizing business operations and ushering in of the contemporary corporate economy. However, the revolution sometimes affected free-market in a negative way through unfair market and economic competitions in the process. During this period, a rocket number of people were allowed and empowered to perform their voting rights.
The United States of America has make some amazing progress from the first 13 settlements. They began as a state represented by a Monarch from England, changed to a republic toward the begin of the insurgency and today regardless we have that republic base in our majority rules system. In spite of the fact that the way how the legislature hasn't changed much, the way how we vote does. At first just the rich and capable had the capacity vote, however in present day America, any legitimate US inhabitant of age not in jail can vote. Consistently, the general population get out and vote in favor of individuals that will attempt to would what they like to do, if not they choose someone else for the employment.
At just about the same time, the percentage increase of eligible voters in United States presidential elections almost tripled, rising from 26.9 to 80.2 percent (Document A). These two statistics were the result of the changes in voting laws that removed restrictions upon eligible voters. It also reflected a citizenship that had begun to realize they had control and a stake in their
At the age of 18, one has new rights associated with being independent. One also has new responsibilities and are held personally accountable for their actions. The new rights that come along with being 18 lead into the topic of the 26th amendment. Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Letting a new age group vote will help show the diversity that is among them. In the article Shin writes about how “some opponents said that young people barely old enough to drive a car don’t have enough perspective to vote.” This argument is valid because it is true that many young voters don’t have the experience to vote. It can still be undone by the fact that only informed individuals are willing to vote at such a young age. This is done through the fact that many young voters were prompted by this new right, to go out and seek the information needed to be well informed
Nowadays, the young generations are not aware of how important it is to go out to a poll and vote. Without the votes, voter turnout will continue to decline. The citizens should be more aware of what is going on, fight for their beliefs and issues, and make a
If the age was lowered to vote, i think many kids would take advantage of their
In Canada, we believe that democracy is the best choice to choose who leads our governments and with voter turnout descending, it seems as though that election results will not always represent what people want in terms of the leader of the government. Canadians, especially young Canadians, seem not to understand the importance of voting and how the results affect their lives. When Canadians decide not to vote, the motivated voters decide what all Canadians will accept as the party who will be the next government in whichever jurisdiction the election took place. With these reasons, I strongly believe that the importance of voting should be more emphasized to Canadians as voter turnout has been descending, it will stimulate stronger participation and interest in political activity and the importance of voting is not understood by the majority of youth in Canada.
This unfamiliarity and thought of the process being confusing deters the younger people from registering to vote in the first place. By removing this process, voters can just show up to cast their votes and move on with their day without worrying about this potentially confusing process. These three methods combined could increase the voter turnout for each
(2003) Change in political era and demographic weight as explanations of youth ‘disenfranchisement’ in federal elections in Canada, 1965-2000, Journal of Youth Studies, 6:3, 247-264 To better understand the current problem of declining voter turnout among Canadian youth, this paper examines trends in turnout rates of Canadians within different age demographics in federal elections between 1965 and 2000. Through the use of the Canadian Election Study (CES) and analysis of literature, it discusses the role of political era and demographic change in shaping trends in youth voter turnout. This study concludes that the reduction in support for Canadian youth and the shift in demographic weight resulted in the estrangement of Canadian youth in politics. This study provides access to extensive research and data on the role of the political era and demographic weight in shaping political platforms.
It is clear that American voters tend to avoid local elections and off-year elections. Run-off elections are also likely to register lower voter turnout as compared to first-round elections. The larger the gap between first round elections and run-off elections, the higher the decline in voter turnout. Moreover, there are lower percentages of young people voting as compared to the older population. This is an important point to note since it highlights that young people do not have information guiding them on the importance of voting.
Imperialists often profess to have an interest in the development of a people or state they intend to conquer. And sometimes there is indeed evidence of ‘development’, but the benefits to the imperialists are always disproportionately greater. The Region has its politico-economic genesis in the bowels of imperialism. The Region, consequently, has progressed or retrogressed within this very context of imperialism. Imperialism has condemned the Caribbean Region to ‘Third World’ status perpetually it seems.
Yet, to avoid this, we can teach them how not to be swayed at school. According to the Electoral Reform Society, they support young citizens at the age of 16 in how to vote and what decision making they should do. If teenagers get the support from authorized adults who can lead young adults to the right path through society, I believe we can trust their opinions. The Fulcrum exclaims that the Ontario Government already recognizes that 16 year olds can understand the issues and independent judges on them. From this, we can say that adults keep full eye on young adults and what kind of thinking they have towards politics so it is safe for teenagers to start voting.
If some citizens who are qualified to vote are denied the right to cast votes, it is considered as a severe abuse of political equality. The debate about the age of electoral majority has taken place for a long period; however, there has been moderately slight attention in the debate given to the exclusion of young people from the vote (Tremmel, 2015). Some of the critics of lowering the voting age to sixteen claim that the young people do not possess the capability and motivation of appropriately taking part in the elections. Some studies have shown that the turnout of the voters ages 18 years is relatively low, however, this cannot specifically attribute to the motivation to take part in the election (Wagner, Johann, & Kritzinger, 2012). This shows that this the issue of the age to the electoral majority is of significance and should be discussed.
Critically analyze the contribution of the Plural Society Model to your understanding of Caribbean Social Structure in the post -independence era. Shadee Douglas St. George’s university Social Structure and Caribbean Society Dr. Damian Greaves March 5th,2018.