Your response should be at least 100 words in length.
3. Discuss representation, participation, and voter turnout in local elections. What trends do you see, and what are their impacts? Your essay should be at least 600 words in length and include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
Requirements: Indepth
Answer preview
Representation in local elections looks at how voters turn out, and individuals participate in voting. For example, a study conducted in 2014 shows that the biggest voting bloc in most of the nation’s cities are blacks. This is even though a small number of black mayors have been elected to serve within the previous 50 years. Racial minorities, on the other hand, have experienced a shortage in representation and even participation in local elections showing a low voter turnout (Beach, Jones, Twinam, and Walsh, 2018).
Another group of individuals underrepresented in city councils is the women, mainly attributed to partisanship and ideology. Less than 15% of those winning the mayoral positions in numerous cities all over the country have been female, according to a report drafted in 2015 (Hunter). The percentage of females elected to city council seats and mayoral seats has been very low over the last ten years. This is an indicator that policies encouraging women participation, such as the two-thirds gender rule to be implemented to ensure a balance in the local governments.
