How does the voting rate in the United States compare to other countries? Which groups vote at a higher rate and which vote at a lower rate? Why does the video suggest some people might not vote?

Introduction

In these critical reflection assignments I am going to ask you to read an article, watch a video, or play a simulation, and then answer a few questions about it. In this final one, you’re going to watch the video at the end of this page titled “Should the U.S.A. Have Mandatory Voting?” You should also make sure you’ve already read the textbook and the other material in this module.

After you’ve watched the video, I’d like you to write a minimum 300 word reflection that covers the following (it can be more than 300 words as there’s no maximum; just a minimum):

1) How does the voting rate in the United States compare to other countries? Which groups vote at a higher rate and which vote at a lower rate? Why does the video suggest some people might not vote?

2) If mandatory voting were to be imposed, what level(s) of government would need to be involved and why? How could we increase voter turnout even without making it mandatory?

3) What arguments does the video present for and against mandatory voting?

4) Based on the video and the other readings/material in the course, do you believe that voting should be mandatory? Why or why not?

Rubric

For each of the questions above, you can receive up to 9 points as below:

7 points: Fully answers the question and offers supporting evidence.

6 points: Either misses a small part of a question, lacks some evidence, or has some small factual inaccuracies.

5 points: Does not answer a part of a question or lacks evidence or has moderate factual inaccuracies.

4 or fewer points: Has substantial factual inaccuracies or fails to address the question.

You can also receive up to 2 points for the quality and clarity of the writing.

Paper Structure/Citations

You can set up your paper however you would like. If you would like to answer each question one at a time, that is fine (in other words you do not have to write this as a formal essay with a thesis statement or anything like that). If you are using information from the book or the included article you do not need to cite it, unless you directly quote it, in which case you should put it in direct quotes and say something like: According to PBS, “XYZ”. If you use any outside sources other than the book or the article, you should absolutely cite it. You may use any citation system you would like – MLA, APA, Chicago, etc. – so long as you are consistent.

The Video link: (it’s on you tube and the title is below if the link is broken)

https://youtu.be/1Ye_2le-m-

Please watch the following video by PBS titled “Should the U.S.A. Have Mandatory Voting?

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