- The function of an election is for the citizens of a country to decide who will run various aspects and levels of their government. It allows the people to have a strong say in matters of their own well-being and taxation. The campaign season allows voters the opportunity to become familiar with the candidates and their positions. It also affords time for the candidates to make the case for why they are best suited the position. The actual function of voting is for the people to make their voices heard by registering their choice in the form of a ballot.
- Elections usually consist of a heavy news cycle and several months of campaigning. During campaigning, candidates lay out platforms (or what they plan to do when in office), and often attack each others' positions and character. For state and national elections, campaign television commercials are incredibly popular, taking up large amounts of advertising space. In the U.S., most elections are between only two major candidates, Republican and Democratic, with a smaller third party candidate sometimes also appearing on the ballot and receiving attention.
- The effects of an election can be far-reaching. They generally have a large hand in determining matters large and small. They influence things from whether pot holes in your local town will be patched to whether a country will go to war. Elections also highly influence the behavior of politicians. They know that the people have the ability to take away their jobs if unhappy with what work they've done. This can result in "pandering," or actions taken by politicians for the sole reason of winning votes in the next election. This is bad because these can be done rather than personal conviction or the best interest of government and citizenry.
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Elections may be at local, state and federal levels. It may be for legislative (senate, congressional, assembly), executive (president, governor, mayor) or judicial (judge) positions. In some countries (like the United States), the election date is set by law and so campaigning can last for well over a year. In others (like Australia and the U.K.), the date is chosen only a couple of months in advance.
In the United States, elections are run so that--for all but the presidential race--the majority of votes decides the election. For presidential races, the Electoral College is used. In the Electoral College, each state gets certain a number of electoral votes based on population, and the candidate that wins a majority of the votes in each state wins all of the state's electoral votes, with the highest number of electoral votes determining the presidency. In other countries like Australia, there is a practice of preferential voting, which promotes third parties by allowing voters to choose numerous candidates for the same position in the order they are most preferred, and the position of Prime Minister is determined based on which party wins the most seats in parliament. - Elections are highly significant as a symbol of democracy and personal freedom. Voting is generally perceived to be patriotic. On a more practical level, they are integral to ensuring that democracy is actually maintained. Elections are also significant in the large amounts of time, energy and money they consume as they are going on. Elections, particularly those at the federal level, are known to capture public attention and imagination. They become focus of an infinite number of newspaper articles, books, films, television specials, and even songs.
