UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR

FACULTY OF LAWS
SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

SUBJECT:

“ENGLISH IV”

TEACHER:

BERTA PORTILLO

STUDENTS:

Arévalo Romero, Georgina Margarita AR14052

Landaverde Orellana, Alicia Abigail LO13014
Ponce Hernández, Nicolás Fernando PH12015

LEVEL OF STUDY:

“FIFTH YEAR OF DEGREE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS”

SEMESTER II-2018 GROUP: 03

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2018

 Abstract

This report is based mainly on the contrast between political participation in the United
States of America and El Salvador. Taking into account the key aspects for its
understanding in relation to the existing similarities between both countries, considering
that in both a democratic system is exercised.

Likewise, very marked differences are evident in terms of processes and culture of how
the vote can be achieved and the requirements that must be met in order to be able to
access to this fundamental right. A clear difference is that in the United States of America,
the procedure for voting is something personal, individual and a voluntary process, while in
some other democracies the procedure is also regulated by government but its citizens do
not have to enroll by their own in it. The culture, the type of life and the family influence
also have an important role on the subject.

It is important to take into consideration that in both countries, the interest groups have a
strong influence in the public opinion, but this has not been this way forever, like
everything in life this is a procedure that has been changing during the years thanks to the
public pressures.

Finally, on this document there are key points to understand the political system, influence
and procedures applied in the United States and in El Salvador that through the time it had
changed due to the restrictions by law in the pass, for example, at the beginning the right
to vote was restricted to women, African Americans and natives. Thanks to a comparison
between both countries it is easier to understand the history of political participation and
voting.

Keywords: political participation, vote, United States, El Salvador, interest groups.

1
 A comparison and contrast of the political participation and
voting between the United States of America and El Salvador

"The politics should be the part-time profession of every citizen ", (Dwight D. Eisenhower).
In the United States, levels of participation have decreased over time, although the right to
vote has had a great historical, social and cultural process in this country, there are
several factors through which it can be understood why Americans do not vote. Political
participation in the United States has had significant and very interesting changes, like the
participation for women, the black population has had lack of access to this fundamental
right, that shape the national life, to produce significant changes it has required the
ratification of essential amendments to ensure the inclusion of the population marginalized.
However, the U.S. political system has characteristics that in one way or another influence
the behavior and procedure to its population at the time of suffrage. It is important to point
out that although in the United States what prevails is a democratic system, it largely
depends on its behavior and application. So that, the purpose of this essay is to compare
the political participation in the United States and El Salvador, in three important aspects:
factors that influence the participation of the vote, why the levels of political participation
have decreased, and political activism.

In the first place, it should be noted that the electoral participation and the politics of the
sectors of society in the United States, as in El Salvador, have factors that greatly
influence their behavior when exercising suffering in a free and equal manner, since the
last century in both there are important milestones in the consolidation of their
democracies, while in 1920 women secure the vote in the United States, in El Salvador
took 30 years more for women to have the right to vote in 1950. A key factor to understand
the levels of electoral participation in both countries are the requirements that must be
met, there is a similarity between both countries in relation to what the vote means, for
both the vote is a right and duty of each of the citizens, it is free, equal and secret. In both
countries in recent years have experienced a phenomenon in the levels of political
participation, voting rates have been drastically reduced, although both have implemented
different mechanisms to encourage their citizens to exercise suffrage. For example, in the
case of the United States, one of the initiatives taken was that the vote exercised
electronically, using the technological tools of the Internet, but regarding this issue there
are many opinions divided, on the one hand we can observe that there is a percentage
that is in favor arguing that it is a faster and more efficient way for the type of life that the
North Americans have, on the other hand there is the sector that is against this type of
initiatives since it generates a certain degree of exclusion for sectors of the population that
do not have access to this type of technology. On the other hand, if we talk about the case
of El Salvador, there have been various initiatives to motivate the population to vote,
among them is the vote abroad for the large number of saviors that are outside the
country, another was the validation of the crossed vote in the last elections, however the
levels of electoral participation in El Salvador have not improved, for the year of 2009 just

2
62.9% of the population exercises the suffrage in the presidential elections.1 We can also
mention that there is another similarity between both countries, which affects to a large
extent the levels of electoral participation of its citizens, which is the frequency of elections,
since in both countries the election periods are relatively short , in the case of the United
States, the elections of the lower chamber are held every two years, and the presidential
elections every four years, it is one of the countries that have more constant elections,
which instead of increasing participation ends up creating the opposite effect in its
population. On the other hand, in El Salvador the elections are also constant, since for the
election of the representatives of the Legislative Assembly (deputies) it is every three
years, and for the presidential elections every five years, some people might think that with
short periods of election the population would be more motivated to participate in the
elections, but in both countries they have had an opposite effect. All the above, shows that
in both countries despite having new initiatives to encourage voter participation in its
citizens, it has only been decreasing more and more.

In second place, the US electoral system is much more complex than the Salvadoran
electoral system, and this is exactly the opposite for its citizens to participate more actively
in elections. One of the factors that has played an important role on the decline in
participation in the United States it is the individualist culture in terms of electoral
processes, this means that its citizens to have the right to exercise suffrage they must
register individually because it is not automatically recorded, and this means that not all
Americans have the time to do this type of process. It is important to mention that in some
states, registration processes are even more restrictive, and some others allow people to
register at their polling place on election day causing them to have more opportunities to
participate on the politic life of the nation. On the other hand, in El Salvador it is enough to
carry the Unique Identity Document when you turn 18 to have the right to vote in each of
the elections held in the country. This is an advantage, in as much as it is not a process
that must be carried out successively and it is practically automatic, from 1994 to 2014,
there has been a substantial increase in registered voters, it has gone from 75.5% to
91.5%2. With respect to ballot counting, the procedures in the United States and El
Salvador differ greatly, there has been occasions in which more than two million ballots
have been counted, and since the counting system is by machine, when the ballot does
not clearly show the choice that has been made it is not accounted for, although it is much
more innovative and sophisticated this system that also has disadvantages with the
possibilities of spoil the elections. On the other hand, in El Salvador the procedure for
counting the votes is manually, that is to say that each of the ballots is counted personally,
while this also implies that there are errors, it is a cheaper way to do it since the use of
technology is way more expensive. Another important point is the clear difference in terms
of the political parties that exist in each of the countries, in the United States it has been
observed that the population does not find many differences between the party of the

1
Observación Electoral. (2009). Recomendaciones. Available at:
http://www.uca.edu.sv/publica/iudop/proyecto/observacion/recomendaciones.php
2
Ibid

3
Republicans and the Democrats at the time of direct or manage issues such as social
welfare, health, education, foreign policy, and this fact has also influenced the low
participation of Americans, according to studies there is a higher percentage of
participation in countries that have a marked difference between political parties; while in
El Salvador the two major parties show a difference in ideology, for example the FMLN
declares itself a supporter of leftist ideology, and ARENA of rightist ideology. In conclusion,
both countries have very marked differences in terms of procedures, cultures and political
parties, which influence the electoral participation of their population to varying degrees.

Another aspect to be compared is the low turnout of the citizens in the voting for both
countries, where there are several aspects that can be mentioned, and are part of some
similarities. First, the feeling of civic duty, that is usually acquired through what others talk
about or teach us, and this could be reflected when we were children, at first we just heard
about it, but then when we grew up we took interest in politics and that that influence the
level of participation in the voting. For example, in the case of Unite State in 2016 the
level of participation was the lowest in a presidential election since 1996, representing
55% of registered voters equivalent to 9% less than in 2009. In the case of El Salvador in
2009 elections, participation has had a downward trend of 53.58% to 48.55% in 2012 and
48.23% in 2015. 3 Another aspect is the age, young people show a low interest in political
issues, product of different factors, a clear example is in El Salvador where the Supreme
Electoral Tribunal in coordination with the National Registry of Natural Persons made a
registration process for eligible youth to vote in the last elections of March 2018, where it
was established that only 2.2% of the young people made the registration process. 4 And
in the United States in fact, citizens under the age thirty have a lower turnout rate than do
all other demographic groups of comparable size. Other aspect is the economic class,
turnout is also strongly related to economic status, as measured by income level, in both
countries, low-income citizens are less likely to vote. In the United States, due to different
circumstances, but the main one is the difficulty to move to the voting centers, because
people do not have the money to obtain transportation. The problem is related to poor
urban areas and where people do not have vehicles to transport themselves, besides the
existence of complicated transmissions to obtain the type of identification that each State
requires to vote. In the case of El Salvador, The problem is related to people from marginal
sectors or peasants, due to the low transport mobility, the loss or expiration of documents.
In summary, both countries have similarities to consider in explaining why there is a low
voter turnout in the elections, where it is emphasized that, for example, civic duty is an
aspect transmitted from parents to children and in schools but often not taken in practice,
thereby causing the existence of disinterestedness in political issues.

Also, the low participation rate in elections in both countries has different aspects that can
be contrasted. In the differences between the two countries one aspect is apathy because

3
La Prensa Gráfica. ¿bajísima participación electoral para el 2018? Available at:
https://www.laprensagrafica.com/opinion/Bajisima-participacion-electoral-para-2018-20170712-0065.html
4
Elmundo.sv. (2014). La terrible apatía política de los jóvenes. [online] Available at:
http://elmundo.sv/laterrible-apatia-politica-de-los-jovenes/

4
in the case of United State apathy responds to ethnic or racial considerations where many
people consider that elections represent the interests of a ruling class, for example in 2016
where the candidate was Donald Trump, a low voter rate was perceived. In the case of El
Salvador, apathy does not respond to racial considerations, rather it is the product of the
lack of representation of the candidates principally by the current political parties that have
been governing for years, raising the level of corruption by their officials. Another important
aspect is the link that exists between education and its relation to voting, for example, in
the United States according to studies in the 2012 elections, only 21.6% of adults who left
school before the ninth grade voted, compared to 74.7% of adults who voted with an
advanced degree.5 In the case of El Salvador, this is an aspect that differs with the level of
participation in the voting, because it is observed that the majority of the people who
attend to vote are adults who in their majority constitute people with a low level of
education. Other aspects to consider are the conventional forms of participation other than
voting, such as the campaign activities, community activities, lobbying group activities and
virtual participation, for example, In the case of the community activities, many Americans
participate in public affairs through local organizations such as parent-teacher
associations, neighborhood groups, business clubs, church-affiliated groups, and hospital
auxiliaries, where these organizations also serve as a means to influence the public life of
the community. 6 In the Salvadoran case, community activities are related to the
development process and capacity building in the Salvadoran population, whether rural or
urban through Community Development Associations (ADESCO), women's groups,
religious groups, training workshops, governmental organizations, among others, which in
many cases seek to benefit from development projects in the logic of international
cooperation, consequently, community participation is a non-traditional form, but it does
exist in both States and increasingly with a greater impact on national politics. The
differences between both countries show the way in which some factors affect the field of
national politics, while some similarities present the lack of interest or barriers to the
citizens to participate voting that more than a right is a way to express what we want and
who to lead a nation according to the promises made during the political campaigns.

As the last point, revolts and disorders are ways of expressing dissatisfaction with
government, the advent of elections allows the masses to communicate their views in an
institutionalized and less disruptive way. Americans since they only have two choices, the
democratic or republican party, they feel these parties sometimes do not represent all
interests of the society. Whenever the society feels the is no representation for them, there
is an alternative which is the social movement or political movement that promotes
changes through traditional forms of participation. The kind of changes expected can be
seen as an example occurred in 1999 when activists during a meeting of the World Trade
Organization disrupted in it asking for an incorporation of their points of view. While in El
Salvador, the reality differs from the U.S. in the aspect of the political parties, since there
are more than two options for the elections, citizens can choose something different

5
emos.org. (2016). Voter Turnout By Income, 2008 US Presidential Election | Demos. [online] Available at:
http://www.demos.org/data-byte/voter-turnout-income-2008-us-presidential-election
6
Political participation and voting: expressing the popular will. Chapter 7

5
besides the traditional positions. On the other hand, as in the U.S. in El Salvador the social
movements promote the democracy and even pacifist ways of activism, but not all of them
result as pacifist as it should be. As an example of some ways of discontent, there has
been disturbs in front of government buildings to take the public opinion into consideration
and make pressure to the government. The great influence of the protest politics can
shape at some point the implement of laws and even decisions in the government.

Finally, about the participation and the potential for influence, the political participation is
important, but most of the Americans do not participate which means that most of them do
not practice what they preach. It is important to analyze why Americans set aside the
participation in elections through voting, and this is more than the historical facts or
repressions that women, African Americans and some other minority groups went through.
In fact, due to the lifestyle they seemed to be more individual putting more emphasis on
their own reality than in the public field. In fact, the lower participation in the political arena,
the lower access to the marketplace due to the big influence of the private sector on the
politics that at the end only results in benefits for a reduced group. In contrast of the reality
of the U.S. in El Salvador is way easier to participate in the political life since the
government is the one in charge of enroll the citizens to have the chance to vote, even the
poorest people has access to go to the polling place. Because of the context it is important
for most of the people living in El Salvador to do not set aside the political participation
because it is the most representative action to change the reality. Also if people participate
voting in elections it is not always because they are well informed, in fact the richest group
that are already in the politic field take advantage of this and influence their opinion with
fake promises and at the end the economic benefits of the campaigns and the significant
changes in social life not always are for everybody. As a result of the contrast in both
countries, there are a lot of points to work on it to produce significant changes on the
political participation and voting to generate conscience on the society of the real
importance of this practice.

In conclusion, comparing realities we might think that because we are analyzing a first
world country against a third world country there are going be huge differences, and of
course there are, but talking about political participation and voting we are not that far.
While in the turnout in the U.S. elections is lower compared to other democratic nations
due to the restrictions imposed for a long period and the individualism as a social
characteristic, in El Salvador there were restrictions too but the procedures were not that
complicated for the citizens to go voting. In addition, in both governments the voter turnout
is associated with the level of trust and this is because of the corruption and the lack of
representation of the working class in the decisions made. The information plays a very
important role for the citizens of both countries because they need to be well informed to
make the best decision that at the end what most of them should be seeking is the benefit
for all the community and not just for a reduced group. To improve the registration
requirements, it was necessary the use of technology in both societies to let the most of
the people access to shape the public life. Factors as the apathy and alienation describes
the lack of interest in or concern with politics and the sense of personal powerlessness
that includes the notion that government does not care about the opinions of people like

6
oneself. To make a greater nation is important that people vote because they are more
attentive to politics and are better informed about issues affecting them. Lastly but not
least, what defines a democracy is the free and open process of elections so voting is the
most basic duty of citizens.

Bibliography

Elmundo.sv. (2014). La terrible apatía política de los jóvenes. [online] Available at:
http://elmundo.sv/laterrible-apatia-politica-de-los-jovenes/

Emos.org. (2016). Voter Turnout By Income, 2008 US Presidential Election | Demos.

[online] Available at: http://www.demos.org/data-byte/voter-turnout-income-2008-us-
presidential-election

La Prensa Gráfica. ¿bajísima participación electoral para el 2018? Available at:

https://www.laprensagrafica.com/opinion/Bajisima-participacion-electoral-para-2018-
20170712-0065.html

Observación Electoral. (2009). Recomendaciones. Available at:

http://www.uca.edu.sv/publica/iudop/proyecto/observacion/recomendaciones.php
Political participation and voting: expressing the popular will. Chapter 7

7
New vocabulary

Ballot: a process of voting, in writing and typically in secret.

Class bias: prejudicial treatment or perception based on social class.

Delayed: make (someone or something) late or slow.

Enfranchise: to grant a franchise to; admit to citizenship, especially to the right of voting.

Engaged: busy; occupied.

Foster: encourage or promote the development of (something, typically something

regarded as good).

Insurance: a practice or arrangement by which a company or government agency

provides a guarantee of compensation for specified loss, damage, illness, or death in
return for payment of a premium.

Lenient: (of punishment or a person in authority) permissive, merciful, or tolerant.

Lobbying: seek to influence (a politician or public official) on an issue.

Outlawed: make illegal.

Preach: earnestly advocate (a belief or course of action).

Poll tax: a tax levied on every adult, without reference to income or resources.

Rate: a measure, quantity, or frequency, typically one measured against some other
quantity or measure.

Sharp: in a sudden or abrupt way.

Turnout: the number of people attending or taking part in an event, especially the number
of people voting in an election.

Welfare: financial support given to people in need.

Widespread: found or distributed over a large area or number of people.

8
Annexes

Annexe 1: Political Participation composite index

Name: Political Participation composite index

Source: jmoirgvxrw.cf

9
Annexe 2: Voter turnout by income

Name: Voter turnout by income, 2008 US Presidential Election

Source: Demos

10
Annexe 3: Voter turnout Rate

Name: Voter turnout rate, by race and ethnicity, 1988-2008

Source: Pew Hispanic

11