VOTING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

vote - Essay ExampleAccording Lijphart (1999, p69), Cleisthenes introduced i of the earliest recorded carcasss of democracy in Greece back in 508 BC. This system of democracy needed voters to select the least preferred politician who was then exiled for ten old age in a distant country. The minimum number of votes that were required to have a politician exiled was 6000.However, if more than one politician received more than the set threshold votes, the prospect with the higher number of votes was exiled instead( Lijphart, 1999,p72). In the thirteenth century, the Venetian state created one of the most developed electoral systems at the time. The Venetian system nominated forty members in Great Council and in the mid 13 century, the number of council members elected was increase to sixty (Grofman, & Merrill, 1999, p53) Though Venetians applied different electoral systems, approval-voting system was the most popular. The approval system required voters to cast a single vote for every expectation vying for a position in the council. Eventually, the candidate who garnered the highest number of votes was declared the winner to represent the state in the council (Grofman, & Merrill, 1999, p38). ... Equally important all candidates should be treated equally, without promoteing a particular person over an different. By treating the candidates equally, Schofield (2001, p584) notes that the voters are presented with a favorable prospect of electing a person of their choice without bias and prejudice of any sort. Fair elections should also ensure that the success goes to the candidate with the highest number of votes. Different governments and organizations apply various methods of ensuring effectiveness of the participants votes. According to Lijphart (1999, p102), votes become ineffectual in electoral processes that lack fairness and transparency to both voters and the candidates. These malpractices include allowing particular voters to cast more than one vo te, discriminating voters based on their gender, social and economic status, tribe, or ethnicity. In such cases, the votes become ineffective because people are not effrontery an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice (Lijphart, 1999, p105). In United states for instance, fence in on whether setting the minimum voting age amounts to discrimination of young voters still persist. Candidates should be given an equal platform for presenting their candidature to the electorate. However, Schofield (2001, p587) notes that many electoral systems in the world contain elements of unfairness that favor a particular candidate over another or others. In such cases, the preferred candidate receives preferential treatment in form of positive media coverage, favorable popularity ratings among other practices at the expense of the other candidates. These practices make the vote to be ineffective because the