Age and voter turnout in the United States
SOC 436 Topic 2 Discussion Question 2
Identify an issue related to voter turnout in the United States and how it contributes to stratification. Support your answer with peer reviewed journal articles. What strategies could be implemented to increase voter turnout in an effort to impact current political inequality? Explain.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Age and voter turnout in the United States
Introduction
Voter turnout is an important part of any democracy, but it’s especially important in presidential elections. In this article we’ll look at how voter turnout has changed over time and examine the factors that influence it.
Voter Turnout and Age
In the United States, voter turnout is generally higher in presidential elections than it is in midterm elections. While there are exceptions to this rule (for example, young people tend to vote more frequently in midterm elections than presidential ones), it’s still true that older people are more likely to vote than younger people.
In fact, most research suggests that older voters are more likely than younger ones to turn out at all: an analysis by political scientists Robert A. Dahl and Dean Burch found that every 10 years of age increase among eligible citizens increased their likelihood of voting by 4%. But while there are some differences between age groups when it comes to their participation rates overall—and even within those groups—it’s important notto miss out on important information about why these differences exist: namely because they do!
Age and voter turnout in the United States
The age groups that vote most are older people. In the United States, voter turnout is highest among those aged 65 and older. This group makes up about 20% of voters in presidential elections but only 10% of eligible voters during midterm elections. The average voter turnout for election years since 1980 has been around 60%.
The youngest U.S.-born citizens are also more likely to vote than their parents were at similar ages. However, this trend reverses after age 30: whereas younger adults tend to be more enthusiastic about voting than older generations were when they were younger (and thus more likely to vote), there has been no clear increase in enthusiasm from mid-30s onward; rather than becoming progressively less likely as you get older, your probability of actually exercising your right drops steadily below 50%.
Who Votes in Presidential Elections?
The average age of voters in presidential elections is 55. In contrast, the general population is younger than this.
Voters are also more likely to be white and male than the rest of us: about half of all registered voters are either black or Hispanic (a third) when compared to about one-fifth of all eligible voters who self-identify as either black or Hispanic. They tend to have higher incomes as well; a quarter have family incomes over $100k per year compared with less than one percent for nonvoters overall
An Examination of Age and Voter Turnout
The relationship between age and voter turnout is one of the strongest predictors of whether or not you’ll vote in next year’s election.
There are other factors that affect a person’s likelihood to vote, but none are as predictive as age. In fact, a recent study found that for every 10 years older you are at the time of your first presidential election (i.e., if you’re 65), there’s an increase of 8 percent in your likelihood of voting compared with someone who was 25 years old when they cast their first ballot. This means that while younger generations may be more likely than older ones to show up at the polls on Election Day 2020—and therefore play an important role in determining winners—it will still largely be up to seniors like yourself who have been through many cycles before this one!
Young voters, old voters—who votes most? (The answer is older voters)
When you think about it, it’s not surprising that older people vote more than younger ones. Older Americans are more likely to be registered voters, and they tend to vote in every election (as opposed to younger ones who may not have registered yet). In fact, according to a report by the Pew Research Center for the People & The Press released earlier this month:
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Nearly two-thirds of those 65+ voted in 2016 (64%).
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About half of 18-29 year olds did so (49%).
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Among 18-29 year olds who were registered but didn’t participate at all—a group that includes young men under 25 who don’t typically have cars or driver licenses—only 26% voted compared with 40% among those 65+.
Older people vote more than younger people.
An older person is more likely to vote than a younger person.
In general, people over the age of 65 are more likely than those under the age of 30 to cast their ballot in an election. This trend holds true for both Democrats and Republicans. In fact, about half of all voters in this country were over 65 when they cast their first ballots at least 25 years ago (and there hasn’t been much change since then).
Conclusion
Do older people vote more than younger people? There have been several studies that say yes, but there are also some studies that say no. Overall, it appears as if age has a significant impact on voter turnout in the United States. Some people believe that young people are not participating because they’re too busy studying or working outside their home communities. Others argue that older Americans may be less engaged in politics because they’ve lived through so many critical changes over the years; however, we do know for certain that there is not just one single reason why turnout might be lower among younger voters than older ones—but rather a combination of factors like these two theories mentioned above along with others which could include education levels and socioeconomic status (SES). We also know from other research findings regarding other countries around the world such as Canada – where age has been shown to affect voting behavior differently depending on country region – citizens aged 18-24 years old tend not to participate at higher rates than those aged 55+ do without fail every election season regardless whether there’s an incumbent president running again.”
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