In “The Right Not to Vote, “Sandra Travis Edwards explains “the second time I decided not to vote was a little later. I had finally gotten settled in the town which is still my home, and I had time to get to know the community well enough” (Skwire & Wiener 362). In particular, Edwards bring out the idea that voting is a vital tool that the electorate should use if at all they are going to realize change within their societies. One thing that is important to understand is that voting is a democratic right that every eligible voter should exercise so that to be able to put the desired leadership and governance. To be an active adult, you have to be actively involved in the political life of your society by actively participating in the democratic process provided by the laws governing a given society. Based on Edwards’s description of an active adult, I believe that I am politically minded because I actively participate in the political process both at the local and national level by voting and also using other methods of political participation. I talk about politics because I believe that if I do not share the ideas that I have regarding the way that I view the politics of my society, then there is no way that change can be realized. It is through speaking politics that you are able to realize that people have common needs and agendas therefore building more political cohesion among members of a given society. I believe that by encouraging everybody to participate in the voting process, every vote that is casted counts. Therefore, it is important to make sure that people who might be undecided whether to vote or not to be encouraged to do so. I believe that both local and national elections hold the same responsibility of increasing democratic accountability among the elected members to their electorate. It is also through voting that the electorate both at the local and national level is able to yield the elected officials the social contract to address their needs. This paper intends to look at the idea brought out by Edward that voting is a tool for change and that through change equal distribution of resources of can be achieved.
First of all, the culture of not participating in voting leads to unequal distribution of resources. For instance, it is important to note that the distribution of resources within Latin America is not equitable. They are a huge gap between the rich who were mostly landowners and the poor (Chasteen 34). Therefore the export- trade, in the early 17th Century, between Latin America and Europe only benefited the wealthy in that they were the ones who owned property. The poor continued to be poor in that they did not own property that they would export. Everything they had was aimed to satisfy their subsistence needs. It is worthwhile to say that export-led growth influenced society by increase the gap between the poor and the rich in Latin America.
Secondly, the failure to vote can lead to reduced economic growth. For instance, this culture of not voting affected Latin America because the poor lost their lands to the ruling elite based on the fact that the poor were not give the right to elect the leader of their choice to power. This was brought about by the fact that the export trade between Latin America and Europe created a higher demand for raw materials. Among the raw materials that were needed by European powers for their industries included plantation crops like wheat and sugarcane. In order to keep up with the high demand in Europe, Latin American countries had to increase their productivity of these raw materials. This meant that land owners had to find ways of getting more land so that they would increase the amount of raw materials they exported to Europe. This need for more land caused rich landowners to bribe government officials and the judicial system so that they could take up public land as well as land owned by the poor who relied on their lands for subsistence purposes (De Faranti 31). After the lands of the poor were put in the hands of the rich, the poor did not have a way to meet their daily needs. They were forced to work for the rich in their farms so as to earn a living. The rich subjected them to low wages so that they could never get enough to sustain them and leave their service. This strategy allowed the rich to benefit from cheap labor which maximized their gains from the export trade. Therefore the rich continued to immerse more wealth as the poor continued to be poor.
Third, failure to participate in the voting process at the national level affects foreign policy. It is worth noting that since the rich had more interaction with European countries they acquired cultural elements and practices from these European powers. One remarkable practice that the rich acquired from Europeans was to educate their children. Education helped increase literacy within the rich causing them to dominate the political sphere of Latin America in that literacy was a prerequisite of holding a political office as well as voting (Chasteen 47). Since the poor classes did not have the money to access education, they could not participate in politics. This meant that the political decisions that were made in Latin America were aimed at benefiting the rich and not the poor.
Fourth, failure to vote increases the likelihood of vote buying and election rigging. For example, the rich in Latin American societies controlled and manipulated elections through corruption. The reason as to why they corrupted the electoral system was to make sure that the rich remained in power so that the rich would continue benefiting at the expense of the poor. In addition, the rich understood that they needed a stable political structure so that the export trade would flourish. However maintaining stability did not mean creating a fair political system for all. It meant that the rich had to create a stable stem by silencing the poor so that they had no political say. They achieved this by using force to stop any rebellions as well as spreading the ideology that there would be no progress unless the export trade remained intact. Therefore anybody who was opposed to the government was opposed to progress. This was not the case in the progress the rich referred to was only for the rich and not the poor.
Fifth, Participating in the voting forces improves market outcome due to increased accountability. It is important to note that the world is slowly changing from being state oriented to being global. This change that makes things like commerce to stop being concentrated at state levels but instead operate from a global scale has caused people to think that this is a completely new thing. For example over the years nations have moved from different forms of political and economic ideologies like communism, socialism and fascism (Bulmer-Thomas 16).However, years after the adoption of these ideologies nations have found out that the ideologies do not work. The reason for this failure is due to the fact that the world is evolving and over time these ideologies have turned out to be unworkable. In the same way, states have discovered that in the contemporary world they cannot serve on their own. Therefore, they have realized that closure will not help them in any way. Nations have therefore opened themselves up so that they can benefit from the external world.
Finally, voting changes the unappealing policy structures for example approach to immigration, trade, and international relations. Nations and individuals can practice commerce and invest in any part of the world (Bailey 13).This phenomenon has been caused by the fact that barriers that initially hindered movement and trade among nations and individuals have reduced over the years in that territorial and national governments have made trade agreements in the recent past thereby allowing interaction and interdependence in terms of the availability of goods and services (Morris 51). The development of transport and communication technologies has also caused people to interact over long distances. The increased interaction of people across the world has caused people to have the notion that power has shifted from territorial and state governments thereby making the world to operate from a global scale as opposed to national or territorial levels.
For example, China where the economy has grown due to the increased interaction of China with the external world through increased exports and foreign investments in the country. (Wiarda 67). People might think that the economic success of China purely lies on the countries interaction with the external world but this is not in case. The reality of the matter is that the government apparatus that is in operation in China has a great role in the economic success of the country. The Chinese government formulates strategies that make China benefit maximally from trading with other nations. The government is also responsible for creating a system of checks and balances so that China can only participate in trade with another nation only if China is going to benefit from the transaction. Unless the state regulates and controls the level to which a given country interacts with other nations in the global arena the country cannot succeed. This is because every player within the global market has the aim of winning. Therefore players tend to manipulate the systems so that it works to their favor. This is where state governments come in in that they have to decide when it is appropriate to open themselves to other nations and when closure is necessary. Countries differ in terms of wealth and size (Chasteen 43.) Wealthy countries, which most of the times constitute the developed world, tend to gain more from globalization. National governments from poor nations have to play a part in making sure that their countries are not manipulated by the wealthy nations in that it could work to their own disadvantage. I therefore agree that the notion that the world is flat should be considered as being a myth of globalization.
In conclusion, the influence of the rich on Latin American politics and society is a great indicator that the power of economics has the ability to bring about change in that when people acquire more money there can manipulate both the political system and the social structure so that they can work to their advantage. Though Latin American countries fought hard for their independence from their colonizers, they did realize complete freedom. This is because their former colonial masters continued to influence Latin American politics and social structure indirectly. One of the major ways in which colonial masters maintained an indirect influence on Latin American Politics and society was through trading with their former colonies. Latin American countries exported raw materials for the industries in Europe and also provided a market for finished goods imported from Europe. This caused the economy of Latin American to be export based. This paper intends to explore how an export-led economic growth in Latin America influenced Latin American politics and society.
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