Discussion 6 The publication of poll results in the days before an election is often criticized because some say that voters are influenced to vote for the "leader" in the poll—the so-called 'bandwagon effect'. Do you think that there is any merit to this criticism? Respond to student: William Chavez Partisanship in America has always been led by the two major political parties for the most part. The two parties are republicans and democrats. These parties have represented the nation for a long time, since 1853 actually. President Fillmore was the last president in this country to have no affiliation to neither democrat nor republican but instead the Whig party (Whitehouse). The independence party which is considered a third party has been slowly rising as figure 10.1 depicts. There could be many reasons as to why this happened. For instance, loss of faith in the democrat and republican party. As we learn in this chapter It takes a lot of consideration to “fit” into one of these partisanships. We learn that family, friends, mindset, ethics and moral dilemmas all play a role when declaring a political party. With the younger millennial generation making up a large portion of the independent party they are coming into play and they require something new. Maybe they do not believe what either party stands for, so they declare themselves independent. “Four in ten voters don’t want to be in a political party. Why? Because parties have become special interests — perhaps the biggest special interests of all” (Independent voting). Another thing with the independent parties is that maybe they just do not want to be labeled. The millennial generation does not want to be represented by two parties typically in power. Especially with everything that is going on in the world. Deportation of illegal immigrants, separating of families, building of the wall, attacks in Syria, Iran, the whole abortion dilemma. The independent party which is considered to be conservative could be tired of the other party’s agendas. They each believe in something else. Democrats, the party that believes in equal opportunity regardless of race or lifestyle and are considered to be liberal. Republicans who tend to focus on the individualistic mindset and being conservative. My last theory is that along with the rest of my generation, is that we don’t understand politics to the full extent. Yes, we get the parties, the powers and what comes with it. However why does the government do the things it does. If we cannot apprehend it to the fullest why declare myself something I am not. Therefore, I would side as being independent (hypothetically speaking). Discussion 7: Do you think college students' participation (the youth vote) made a difference in the election outcome in 2012? Do you believe this segment of the population will/can be influential in future elections? Explain. Respond to Student please: Discussion board 7 The United States has a drastica ...