In regards to realigning elections there are mainly two types: Critical elections and Secular realignment elections. Critical elections are characterized by voters who are deeply concerned about the issues at hand, electoral involvement tends to be very high and voter behavior gradually changes over time. Secular realignment on the other hand has changes in voter behavior changing gradually over a period of time.
In my personal opinion I feel that this election could be categorized as a critical election realignment, because even though voter participation in congressional elections tends to be a lot less compared to an actual presidential election. I feel that Americans overall had a lot of concern about the democratic party in general and the way that they were running the country. There had been a lot of bad press about them and especially President Obama that was making the american people discontent with their progress or lack there of. Because of the concern over our growing problems with the country's economy and financial issues, it comes as no surprise to me that people would feel that the Democrats are the ones to blame and therefore think that in order to get things back to the way they used to be, cause a realigning election by booting out the Democrats and reinstating the Republicans.
This is exactly what the republicans wanted to happen of course, now all we can do is wait and see how difficult Obama's job now becomes, and whether or not the Republicans hold of the house will somehow make things better than they were previously.
I disagree. I do not believe that the country was as feed up with the President and the Democrats as the media and Republicans have made us believe. Do not get me wrong, there were many frustrated Americans that wanted the Democrats out but not as many as you may think. A large amount of voters did not come out to show their support for the Republicans. Voter turnout for Congressional elections is normally low and this election was not the exception.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Tiffany that the voter behavior in this election wasn't a result of being "fed up" with the President and the Democrats but rather due to the historically low voter turnout which has proved to be an issue in countless elections as well as an obstacle for candidates.
ReplyDeleteWhile voter turnout is consistently low in midterm elections, it is interesting to observe what groups and parties tend to stay home based on the climate of public opinion. When the media and polls revealed that country was upset with the Republicans and Bush in 2008 that energized the Democratic Party and voters to campaign to have the government change hands. Just as the media and strong GOP groups campaigned on this idea in 2010. So while voter turnout is typically low, perception is reality, and if voters perceive the government as needing change then the party and media use this as fuel to propel a change in party control.
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