Nowadays the issue of low political participation is broadly discussed in California and the USA. It is a well-known fact that Americans are less active in terms of voter turnout compared to Europeans. One reason for this is that American voting system is considered to be much more complex and branched. In the same way, the range of voted positions to be filled is larger than in other countries. Thus, if Europeans have to choose an average of two candidates at one election, it is more complicated for Americans, who have to study a huge amount of information to elect candidates for all levels of legislation. Thus, simplification of this system would help increase political participation.
Another point is that in California immigrants make up a large share of population, moreover, it is declared that they are about twenty-five percent (Anagnoson, 2011, p.216). Traditionally, they are not politically active, because they do not realize their role as part of American society, or they are just unable to participate in election according to legislation. Discussions are held whether such permission should be granted to them, because this would significantly increase voter turnout. Such a measure would be reasonable, taking into account that Los Angeles has over thirty two percent of non-citizen population (Anagnoson, 2011, p.188). The proponents believe that giving these people a right to vote will increase the overall level of political awareness in California. Besides, it would be a demonstration of democratic principles declared by the US Constitution.
Finally, there is a demographic reason for the decrease of voter turnout. As generations change, it is clear now that the younger generation demonstrates less political participation (Anagnoson, 2011, p.76). Such an issue can be explained by the fact that previous generations that were brought up in post-war world and then in the circumstances of Cold War, were more interested in politics and in their role in it. Thus, this is a natural effect of consumer society, which can be helped by educational efforts taken towards younger generation.