In the United States, November 2nd is Election Day. While the turnout for midterm elections is typically lower than that of presidential elections, it is nonetheless consequential. From governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia to public safety concerns in Minneapolis, the 2021 election has voters deciding on a range of issues and facing a plethora of new voting restrictions. The events of the day fall under the rubric of political sociology, the study of political groups, leadership, and power within society. Let’s take a moment to dive into politics from a sociological perspective and, in the process, gain a better understanding of some of the challenges associated with the democratic process.
There are a variety of political systems around the world. Countries like Angola, Cuba, and Venezuela have dictatorships, a form of government by which political authority is controlled by a single person or political entity. On the other hand, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are examples of absolute monarchy, a system in which the government is ruled by a monarch who has control of the government and state. This category is different from a constitutional monarchy in which a monarch is the Head of State, but the country is governed by a parliament. The U.S. is one of 23 fully democratic countries in the world. With democracy, the power is vested in the people and free elections are held. Elections, like the ones currently underway in the U.S., are a cornerstone of the democratic process.
The cornerstone of democracy is not without its fissures. Splits or creaks in the political process can be found by looking at some of the controversies that have plagued the U.S. system. One of the biggest in the 21st century has been around the issue of redistricting, changes in the boundaries of an electoral voting district. Also known as gerrymandering, it involves redrawing voting district maps. On the surface, this seems like a perfectly logical thing to do periodically because of social and demographic shifts in a region or territory. Unfortunately, the political boundaries that are typically created through redistricting usually benefit one political party over another or one group of people at the expense of another.
Efforts to restrict who can participate in the political process are not new. Historically, before minorities could cast their vote, they had to pay a poll tax, a fee members of the electorate must pay in order to participate in the voting process. These fees were levied against persons of color as part of a system of institutional racism and voter suppression. In 1964, the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution made poll taxes illegal. Attempts at voter disenfranchisement through poll taxes still exist in Florida, where ex-felons — who are overwhelmingly minorities — must pay a fee before being allowed to participate in the political process.
