Im doing a term paper on voting in the united states and why so many people voted in the 1960's and 1970's but such a decrease in interest now a days.
209526
It wasn't just Vietnam, it was the whole social movement. There was an aura of change in the air in the 60's and the early 70's, people felt that they can change the world for the better. \n\nToday, people are faced with a stalemate, they can either vote right or extreme right. To have an impact, to change the world, seems quite impossible these days as people would have to completely reform the structure of the society, starting from the economic corporate colossus, through the administrative chaos and the concentration of power into the hands of one man and his advisors. And let's not forget all those hidden agendas that are going on and which people are not even willing to uncover, out the sheer fear of what they might find. Voting today seems pointless, since a vote won't change a single thing.
523051
Most of the extreme radicals of the 60s later became the Democratic Party as we know it today.  It used to be just the other side of the same coin in the days of Truman or FDR.  It's different now, which is why there's so much animosity between the parties.  \n\nUnfortunately, a vote for the Democrats now is a vote for whoever is in charge; possibly the Clinton woman or the milk toast skirt hanger Kerry, and that may mean a less than ideal outcome to the war; possibly the disasterous outcome of which you speak.  I hope not, but I had a sinking feeling when I heard the news of their victory.\n\nVoting parties rather than issues isn't really a prudent choice these days, my friend.  It's like putting a loaded revolver into the hands of a four year old.
548954
A voter turnout of 40%, while better than it has been, should be embarrassing to all Americans. We proclaim our democracy to be the ideal for the rest of the world, even to the point of forcing it on others, but fail to take part in it ourselves.\n\nTwo factors: voter apathy, and the feeling that the individual vote doesn't count.\n\nPresidential elections typically have a lot more press, more nationwide interest. Midterms are more local in nature, and don't generate the same audience or attention.
383394
You know, I completely agree. When America voted in 2004, they voted for change. So far, all that has happened is more troops have been sent overseas to fight battles that, depending on peronal views, potentially should not have started. Nothing is being done about the other issues [so it seems]. What happened to the morals Americans voted for? What happened to the morals that were presented in the election in order to regain the presidency. Simply what is going on?
511053
There was a hugh fear of communism in the '50s and you could write about McCarthyism and the blaclisting of actors in Hollywood during this period.  The movie about Edward Murrow "Good Night and Good Luck" would explain more on this subject.\n\nAlso, in the fifties the nuclear family was the "norm" and people tried to be like "Ozzie and Harriet" - the perfect family.  That could be another essay.\n\nOr the economic advantages of the generation in the 50s, where homes and cars were affordable, and these families went up within the middle class.\n\nBest wishes.
325766
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1988-present)\n\ntry to find a answer in that site ..
202121
I see not problem with lowering the voting age, especially to 16 year olds.\nThe Bush administration is creating trillions of dollars in debt that will be paid for by future generations -- today's children. Perhaps if politicians had to worry about kids voting, they might be more responsible about piling up huge debts for the next generation.
522894
To know voters opinion look for public opinion polls and public opinion researches. I'm not an american citizen but I guess that you could find them on-line. I only know a few websites of american political polls but I don't know if they're useful for your paper: \nwww.realclearpolitics.com/\nhttp://www.pollingreport.com/\nThere you can find poll results for 2006 elections and some predictions for 2008. \nReal clear politics have also gathered information from different poll surveys such as those made by NBC, for example.\nFor some theoretical background I recommend you a very good book: \nZaller, John. "The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion". Cambridge, 1992. \nGood luck!
97382
Sad thing is that a few years back, some students from Stanford did an experiment...they put the Bill of Rights into contemporary language and presented it as a petition for a month, explaining that they were gathering signatures to get this on the next ballot.... a majority of the people who read the "petition" thought is was some sort of leftist manifesto and wanted nothing to do with it... Poor Mr. Jefferson is STILL spinning in his grave.
388012
About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: \n\n"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."\n\n"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:\n1. From bondage to spiritual faith; \n2. From spiritual faith to great courage; \n3. From courage to liberty; \n4. From liberty to abundance; \n5. From abundance to complacency; \n6. From complacency to apathy; \n7. From apathy to dependence; \n8. From dependence back into bondage." \n\nProfessor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:\n\nPopulation of counties won by: Gore-127 million; Bush-143 million; \nSquare miles of land won by: Gore-580,000; Bush-2,427,000 \nStates won by: Gore-19; Bush-29 \nMurder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore-13.2; Bush-2.1 \n\nProfessor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare . . "\n\nOlson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase. \n\nIf the Senate grants Amnesty and citizenship to 20 million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then goodbye USA in less than 5 years.
240063
I really think its about greed - pure and simple.  As things were during the Reagan years, some people matter and some don't .
212173
From what I understand about compare/contrast/causal analysis, you'll need to write about how something has changed, explain why it changed (this is the causal part), and compare and contrast how it was before changing to how it is now.  How about writing about the role of women in American society.  Much has changed, even in just the last century.  Compare and contrast the role of women in the past to the role of women today in America.  Explain what happened to cause this change (voting rights, the women who began to take on men's factory jobs in WWII, the move away from agricultural life where the woman kept the home running to more urbanized life where women work, the decrease in the size of the average family, allowing the woman to take on responsibilities outside of just the home.
18281
it is probably good more people voted in 2004, and they did. this caused bush to win easier.
61126
Hhahha, actually no i dont think we lossed our civility in the American body of politics but its just that we get influenced by other means, like friends, family, TV, radio, and the like!! As a matter of fact, i loved ur answer, it really was food for thought, i might even actually consider changing my thought since u mentioned it!! Great Job!! Thank you so much, and please never think that u don't have an influence on ppl, u sure did on me, n yes u might be surprised n might even brigten up ur day i hope!! Good luck n keep in touch! ;)
140850
On the wrong track for many reasons.  Politicians have become amoral, Americans have become complacent, people love to complain but do nothing,  a bit more than half the population votes, there is not equal representation, and I could go on for hours.  You get the point.
371038
Give me liberty or give me death. All the way. The older you get, the more it seems to matter.  Though, the Viet Nam war and drafting kids not allowed to vote kinda got a bit personal to me.
300083
This smells like a research paper you should be doing your own research for.  I'll just say the foreign policy of the 1950's was totally dominated by worldwide struggle with the USSR for allies and hegemony.  Everything else was secondary.  On top of the perpetual war footing and a major shooting war in Korea there was the threat of nuclear holocaust.  And the American imagination has latched onto the idea that this decade was innocent and carefree, a Golden Age that makes our own times dark and frightening in comparison.  This grotesque glorification of the past plays right into the hands of the current regime, which manipulates fear to stay in power and strip away our constitutional rights.