The declining trend in voter turnout is surprising, as voting in elections is a privilege which Canadians seem to be taking for granted. In this paper, I will be discussing how social class influences voter turnout for elections in Alberta. For this paper, I will be using the voter turnout definition as described by the Canada Elections Act: “official voter turnout is calculated as the number of votes cast divided by the number of registered electors” (“Estimation of Voter Turnout”, 2011). In analyzing class, I will be using the lens of Edward Grabb’s Neo-Weberian theory of class. This lens sees stratification as the intersection of the means of power, structures of domination, and the bases of inequality (Speake, 2016). The first intersection,
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However, the argument then lies in the question of what skills are deemed valuable to political participation. Not discussed by Grabb, this issue is tied closely to level of educational attainment. It can be argued that a lack of education leads to an increase in non-voters, or a lack of ownership is what creates voter apathy. In Alberta, a study done by the University of Alberta discovered that the largest reason that Albertans did not vote was because they “did not have enough time (27%)” (Harrison, 2014, p. 11). Overall, the data leads us to conclude that “older, wealthier, and more highly educated people are more likely to vote, with non voters being predominantly found in lower socioeconomic strata of the population” (Harrison, 2014, p. …show more content…
In my discussion, I was able to use break down the intersections of ownership, education and occupation as they relate to class. I discovered ownership, as it relates to capital, and educational attainment as the two key factors in understanding a declining voter turnout trend in Alberta, and nationally in Canada. Occupation in relation to voter turnout is difficult to determine, although is closely related to education. Following the discussion of these intersections, I was able to closely analyze these relationships, and distinguish why understanding class is imperative to understanding voter turnouts. Lastly, I included a reflection of the data found and general, brief solutions on the issues discovered. In conclusion, this paper investigated the issue of understanding class as it relates to voter turnout in
However, the argument then lies in the question of what skills are deemed valuable to political participation. Not discussed by Grabb, this issue is tied closely to level of educational attainment. It can be argued that a lack of education leads to an increase in non-voters, or a lack of ownership is what creates voter apathy. In Alberta, a study done by the University of Alberta discovered that the largest reason that Albertans did not vote was because they “did not have enough time (27%)” (Harrison, 2014, p. 11). Overall, the data leads us to conclude that “older, wealthier, and more highly educated people are more likely to vote, with non voters being predominantly found in lower socioeconomic strata of the population” (Harrison, 2014, p. …show more content…
In my discussion, I was able to use break down the intersections of ownership, education and occupation as they relate to class. I discovered ownership, as it relates to capital, and educational attainment as the two key factors in understanding a declining voter turnout trend in Alberta, and nationally in Canada. Occupation in relation to voter turnout is difficult to determine, although is closely related to education. Following the discussion of these intersections, I was able to closely analyze these relationships, and distinguish why understanding class is imperative to understanding voter turnouts. Lastly, I included a reflection of the data found and general, brief solutions on the issues discovered. In conclusion, this paper investigated the issue of understanding class as it relates to voter turnout in