Questions on Voter Turnout and Role of Interest Groups on American Democracy

1. Explanations for Voter Turnout
   Voter turnout is generally defined as the total votes cast divided either by total number of
   eligible voters or the estimated voting age population. The actual definition varies from country
   to country. Since 1996, voter turnout in the U.S has ranged from 50% to 60% (DeSilver 2).
   Compared to other developed countries, the U.S has one of the lowest voter turnouts. For
   instance, Belgium’s voter turnout is sometimes as high as 87.2% (DeSilver 2). Various reasons
   have been advanced to explain America’s low voter turnout. This paper examines both
   institutional and personal reasons of low voter turnout.
   The main institutional cause of low voter turnout in the U.S is voter registration laws.
   These laws include those that require identification before one register to vote and those that
   deny ex-felons from voting (Hoekstra & Koppa 5). The laws are generally meant to reduce voter
   fraud and make sure that only adults who are eligible to vote actually vote. Unfortunately, some
   of these laws have been found to disenfranchise significant sections of the population thus
   further suppressing voter turnout.
   Apart from institutional factors, there are a number of personal factors that also lead to
   reduced voter turnout. Key among them is disillusionment with the current political system and a

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sense of futility. The latter is a perception among voters that their votes are unlikely to have any
impact (DeSilver 3).
Regardless of the reasons behind it, low voter turnout is generally undesirable. Apart
from resulting in unequal representation among different population sections, low voter turnout
also reduces the legitimacy of a system.

2. Interest Groups and Democracy in the U.S.
   Interest groups often generate a lot of controversy not just in the US but also in other
   countries where the practice is common. Supporters of interest groups argue that they support
   pluralism – a system of democratic politics where various interest groups that work against each
   other balance out and achieve a common good (Wilson 85). Additionally, the presence of
   different interest groups working against each other prevents one group from imposing its will on
   another one. Thus, viewed in this way, interest groups play an important role in keeping a
   democracy healthy.
   On the other end of the spectrum, interest groups have been accused of stifling
   democracy by, in essence, forcing the government to work for interest groups instead of the
   people. For instance, even though polls have shown that a majority of Americans favor greater
   gun control laws, the National Rifles Association, a pro-gun lobby group, has managed to block
   any legislation that would lead to increased gun control (Wilson 87). Furthermore, interest
   groups generally represent the interests of the middle- and upper-class groups and ignore the
   interests of the poor. As such, their influence makes governments to be less responsive to the
   interests of the poor.

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Interest groups are especially detrimental to the health of democracy when they are many.
With each group seeking to have the government do what it desires, the government ends up not
doing much. Thus, in a system where interest groups are common, the fewer the groups the
better for democracy and effectiveness of the government.

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Works Cited

DeSilver, Drew. “US trails most developed countries in voter turnout.” Pew Research Center 21
(2018).
Hoekstra, Mark, and Vijetha Koppa. Strict Voter Identification Laws, Turnout, and Election
Outcomes. No. w26206. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2019.
Wilson, Graham K. “American interest groups in comparative perspective.” The politics of
interests. Routledge, 2018. 80-95.