Journal Article Literature Review

Journal Article #2
Name;
Institutional Affiliation;
Date
Background Information
It has been noted that before any presidential elections, the State of Iowa undertakes projects aimed at increasing and mobilizing the number of registered voters who are aged between 18 and 24. According to sources, these projects have impacted the manner in which youths engage in electoral activities as was noted in the 2014 elections. The Federal Election Commission noted an influx of new youth voters who casted their voted during the Election Day (Lopez, Kirby, Sagoff, & Herbst, 2005) (Speckman, 2002). This paper, therefore, aims at determining the role of the media and the functions it played in wooing the young voters by viewing the contents of three major television stations that lead to the presidential elections in 2004. The paper, therefore, will examine the approaches the media used in covering the youth voter issues through the stories that were aired.
Literature Review
According to sources, the ratified section of the Amendment bill of the American Constitution, the 18- year-olds are granted the privilege to engage in elections. Through this bill, the country experienced a youth voter turnout of 52% as compared to around 68% of the population that voted at the age of 25 in 1972.
It is essential to note that after the election that occurred in 1972, the youth voter turnout in the US begun to diminish. An instance of this can be depicted in the elections that happened in 1976, 1980, and 1984 that saw a turnout of 44% of the youths participate in the electoral process (Speckman, 2002). Sources reveal that in 1992, the voter turnout of the youths aged 18-24 increased again to 49%.This effort was acknowledged to the advent of Music Televisions (MTV) that carried out a campaign named "Rock the Vote". The next presidential elections, therefore, saw another fall on youth voter turnout that has remained at 36%, a factor that calls for a decisive approach.
In 2004, the voter turnout rose immensely; a factor that recorded the highest percentage, with close to 47% of the voter turnout ascribed to the youths aged 18-24 participating in the elections as compared to 64% of the overall voters (Speckman, 2002). Several states noted increases in the youth voter turnouts with this believed to have been improved by the voter outreach initiatives and political advertisements aired by the media.
Having noted this, several states, therefore, embarked on approaches directed towards increasing the voter registrations and easing the barriers that stand out that result in low turnouts. This approaches therefore allowed people to vote on receiving their driving licenses. A voter registration reform Act was therefore introduced in 1993 to give the citizens the privilege of voting across the 50 states through a motor voter initiative (Fitzgerald, 2001). In as much as some changes were noted, the youth voter turnout still stagnated. Some states developed approaches that increased the turnout of young voters through methods that enabled the citizens to locate the polling stations conveniently, providing an extension of polling hours, and mailing the sample ballots, efforts that saw an increase in the turnouts.
The m...