The American political participation

Introduction
Political participation refers to the activities of citizens that aims at manipulating political
decisions. However, this unclear separation will attract opposition democratic theories such as
the Median Voter Theory that work on the Aristotelian customs emphasizing the self-fulfillment
and developmental personality of participation. Political actions can be fortified based on the
inherent necessity and the value of health of the people on one part, and based on the obligations
to express opinions and interests that determine the decision-making procedure. Political
participation can also be referred to an activity that involves people taking the roles of a citizen
and not as a civil servants or politicians. It is understood as participation through voting and not
just watching television or showing a strong interest in politics (Thomas).
The voting activity that shows actual political participation should be a voluntary activity
and not influenced by anybody or dictated under some rule or law (Hotelling 41). The concern of
political participation is indebted to politics and government in a the larger sense of political
systems which is not limited to particular phases such as governmental decision making and the
input part of a political system.

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Political participation
The topic of political participation since the last 50 years ago, is a study regarding endless
expansion such as the extended republic, and a list of definite types of political participations.
Clearly, this involves the extended republic which reflects a developing relevance of politics and
governments for individual citizens in the modern societies and a continuous concealing of the
difference between non-political and political activities such as those in the public and private
spheres. The democratic process of political participation through voting is highly determined by
the yearning to give force and meaning to the aspects of accountability, consent and political
opposition, which are associated with democracy (Thomas). Through participation, the principle
of consent can either be withdrawn or granted in democracy and those in power becomes
accountable for their actions. Democracy means encouraging a free will to vote without frauds
through lobbying. Since people can only be free and through sharing and determination of
particular affairs, voting is the best way of political participation used to realizing the objectives
of democracy. However, the party system holds the strongest influence on political participation
(Hotelling 41).
The U.S. party system is perhaps a potent system. The role of a party (such as
Republican or Congress) is partly instrumental and partly expressive. The party gives a symbolic
force and a capacity to encourage devotion, sacrifice and affection for political participation
(Stokes 29).

Median voter theory
The main idea of the median voter theory discussed in class involves the concept of a
specific type of preference accumulation based on every member of a political group
endeavoring to exploit their various utilities. All individuals demand a result that favors them

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Political participation
more. Under particular constraints, that behavior gives the “middle” or median voter in each
group with the capability to cast a decisive vote in every contest. Therefore, any candidate
contesting for those votes is good when s/he appeals right to a median voter. As a result, this
concept has inferences for politics, economics and business as well. The idea was dignified in
1948 by Duncan. This theory also has limitations.
According to Tyler Cowen, people should converse about the MTV theory when
comprehending the dimensions and direction taken by politics. However, this is not the wholly
the case. Presumably, it is comparatively very rare in the American politics for an incumbent U.S
politician to truly be faced with a competitive election bid (Stokes 32). The obligatory Senators
often create cross-party associations to protect parochial local welfares, for all the right reasons.
Therefore, people are not viewed to portray a reckless behavior in their careers. Giving
assistance to the local powerful figures is not presumably the only popular action, but essentially
enable the defense against other political challengers. It is also not an obvious thing to
understand how incumbent politicians will handle the work of measuring median voter
sentiments since the polling issue is legendarily untrustworthy and suffers from framing bias.
The other issue about the MTV theory is the fact that Voters look at political parties
based on the juxtaposition of a party on policy matters to the preferred position of the voter. The
preferences of the Voter maybe narrowed to unidimensional procedure space. The preferences
are monotonically deteriorating from the ideal point of the voter. The Voter’s choice depends on
the proximity of a party that optimizes their personal utilities. In the American political system,
Roderick (2007), argue that a voter had moderately ill-defined strategy preferences and had a
scant evidence about the aspirants’ policy position. The MTV theory is, therefore, basing its main

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Political participation
concept on the assumptions of individual preferences, dimensionality, and the proximity to
determine the median voter.

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Political participation
References
Thomas T. Competitive Interests: Compromise and Competition in the American Interest Group
Politics. Georgetown University Press, 2011. (http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog)
Stokes, K. The American Voter. New York: John Wiley and Sons, (2006).
Hotelling, Harold. Stability in Competition. The Economic Journal 39: 41-57, 1929
Class notes (PowerPoint presentation)