Good Article Review On Economic Voting

Introduction

Voting in a country bears a lot of significance, especially in a democratic country. Voting is a showing sign of democracy in action. Democracy demands that citizens of a country participate in the governance of their nations. They participate by choosing their leaders, making important decisions such as constitution amendments, etc. therefore, voting is the tool that the citizens are equipped to guard themselves against their leaders vices. Therefore, the strength of democracy in a country is relative to the voting rights its citizens possess. Christopher J. Anderson had his thoughts concerning voting where he related voting with politics and the economy of a country and cited evidence of the same(Anderson 151). Timothy Hellwig and David Samuels added contributions concerning globalization and voting. The essence of this essay is to gain an insight on the same to get a better understanding. Better understanding of these concepts will provide countries a new platform to enhance governance in their country to promote economic growth in those nations.
Christopher J Anderson establishes a relationship between an individual’s intention benefits and their perceptions of their economy. He uses three approaches to describe this relationship; clarity of responsibilities in the political institutions of a nation, the target size of the governing political party and the clarity of alternatives that the citizens have concerning who to blame and who to give credit. Through his hypothesis, Christopher posits that a country with a clear structure of its political institutions that defines who bears responsibility for the government’s actions, it means the citizens can clearly know who blame is to be accorded and who credit belongs to. In addition, it means the target for the credit and blame is large. Therefore, the options for the voters to give credit to the opposition parties and turn away from the governing party if it fails them are more. In turn, this relationship bears a stronger effect on the economy(Anderson 168).
Globalization is a factor that is becoming more and more owing to factors such as technological advancement that has led to increased connectivity in the world. in other words; the world has become a global village. Therefore, governments have become unified in a way that countries are even becoming responsible for other countries, for instance, a developed country such as the US taking care of developing interests of a developing nation such as Kenya. Similarly, globalization has had its effects on voting in democratic countries. Timothy Hellwig and David Samuels try to establish a connection between the democratic accountability and globalization. They believe that to learn of this connection, it is important to learn how the voters can be able to hold accountable their politicians for the result of exposing national economies to a new level of freedom(Hellwig and David 285).
The writers of both articles feel that the fact that voters are able to hold the government responsible for the economy is the basis of understanding the intentions of a voter. Christopher claims that if the structure of institutions in a nation is clear (of government), the citizens can clearly decipher who to blame and who to give credit. Therefore, accountability is what is used as a link to voter behavior(Anderson 168). Timothy Hellwig and David Samuels believe that by establishing how voters can hold their government responsible for the effects of exposing national economies to the global market will help in understanding voter behavior. Therefore, they both provide a platform to enhance the study of these two hypotheses to enhance the perception of governments concerning their voters and how to best serve them. It may also provide a basis upon which developing countries can promote their developments(Hellwig and David 296).
These two articles try to examine voter behavior and how they can be affected by external factors such as globalization and politics. This means that they both promote a better understanding of the voters in a country and democracy. Insights into these two factors are important as they are the guiding lines along which governance rolls. Therefore, its significance cannot be understated. Globalization affects national economies in that they give them more freedom as when confined within the boundaries of a nation. Politics in a country has an unseen relationship with the economy which when explored, can be seen to establish a connection with the intentions of a voter. Understanding voter behavior is significant for a country because they can enhance the participation of its citizens in the running of its government. More involvement means the country will be able to run more smoothly and targets of most if not all financial years will be met. It can also be an ideology that developing countries can embrace to promote economic growth within their boundaries(Hellwig and David 296).
Something that the writers of both articles share is in terms of their applicability in terms of arising issues in the world today. The fact that these are current issues affecting countries in the world today makes them more applicable to the current world even more. Globalization affects the entire globe thereby affecting nations directly. Technology enhancing connectivity and becoming a major contributor in the production sector of all countries means globalization has its clutches on the economies of nations. With most countries being democratic today, their main goal is to promote development especially in the developing countries. Therefore, by understanding these issues adequately, governments stand a better chance of promoting development in their nations. Enhancing participation of the citizens in governance puts to rest conflict and more time is invested in developing the country more(Fossati 133).
Despite all the similarity, these two articles differ in terms of their results concerning the empirical study results. Christopher establishes a successful relationship of the institutional context and voting behavior. With this result, he proves that an institutional structure that clarifies who bears responsibility (be it blame or credit) will enhance the strength of the economic effects in the nation(Anderson 168). Even though Timothy and David agree to the existence of this connection, their results deny the effect of exposure to open economies on the voter intentions. They however discovered that it reduces the propensity of voters to attribute economic performance to their government performance. Therefore, their account claims that the governing party is excluded from holding the responsibility for whatever effect the exposure to globalization effect has on the economy of the country(Hellwig and David 296).

Conclusion

Democracy is the norm of the entire world and nations that did not have democracy as their leadership style are quickly adopting it. It is a belief that democracy is a route to enhancing development in a country economically as well as in terms of its social structure. Understanding factors that enhance democracy such as voting will enable governments protect their investment in democracy thereby promoting the security of the future of the nation. It is my recommendation, therefore, that nations enhance the study of this field to gain a better understanding of these concepts.

Works Cited

Anderson, Christopher J. "Economic Voting and Political Context: a Comparative Perspective."Electoral Studies (2000): 151-70. Print.
Hellwig, Timothy, and David Samuels."Voting in Open Economies." Comparative political studies context 40.3 (0): 283-306. Print.
Fossati, Diego. "Economic Vulnerability And Economic Voting In 14 OECD Countries." European Journal Of Political Research 53.1 (2014): 116-135.