DEMOCRACY (n): a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in and exercised by the people
"The people" do not determine the U.S. government's "supreme power." Less than half of the voting age population showed up at the polls in the 1996 presidential elections, a new low for American democracy. While low voter turnout has marred previous presidential elections, 1996's turnout dipped below 50 percent for the first time in more than 30 years. (See recent voter turnout trends in Federal elections)
Presidential elections, however, draw comparative crowds. Mid-term elections (and off-year state and local elections) suffer from even lower participation: congressional elections turnout has hovered in the mid-30 percent range since 1970. In that context, the mainstream media's mundane reaction to 1998's 38 percent turnout is not surprising.
Such insignificant voter participation contributes to the impotence of third parties, which depend on voters that the major parties alienate. Unfortunately, disillusionment doesn't drive democracy, and it is frequently these voters that do not vote.
Low voter turnout is itself a vicious cycle, because it fuels more disgust and less voting. Three phenomena contribute to the crisis. Media reports of plummeting turnout discourage voters who realize that American democracy is not operating properly. Meanwhile, the consistent voters tend to be upper and upper-middle class whites, and candidates therefore have an incentive to cater to their interests, which are frequently at odds with those who do not vote. Many disenfranchised Americans are equally alienated by the two mainstream presidential candidates, and thus do not waste their time voting. The result: more unsatisfactory candidates and an even more prevalent sense that there's no point to voting.
The U.S. government is not actively denying any citizens the right to vote (at least not right now). But it has an inherent obligation to improve voter turnout, because the government's very legitimacy is based on substantial citizen participation.
Different people isolate different variables when explaining America's unacceptably low voter turnout. Alleged causes range from excesses in campaign finances to lack of education to voter apathy and disgust to mediocre candidates. Most likely, there is some truth to all of these analyses, and any attempt to improve voter turnout must therefore address a broad spectrum of the crisis's causes.
