Voting as a Way to Increase Happiness

May 26th, 2020

Introduction

The Declaration of Independence states that every citizen has the right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Yet, in today’s American society, citizens are the unhappiest they have ever been (World Happiness Report). Happiness is defined by, “the degree to which an individual judges the overall quality of his or her life as a whole (in a favorable manner)” (Ott, 3-22). Unhappiness can lead to a wide range of issues; including political impediments such as a low voter turnout and an uninformed population. Many politicians and academics have grappled with the complex issues surrounding a downtrought of happiness in the United States, but a simple solution that can effectively increase an individual’s happiness and voter turnout has yet to emerge. In reality, this paper will build off existing research that finds a connection between voting participation and happiness in an effort to utilize voting as a way to increase national happiness. Research has shown that voting during political elections increases an individual’s happiness substantially; Associate Professor of Political Science Rebecca Weitz states, “In the case of the link between political participation and individual happiness, there are some clear reasons to believe that participation might in fact increase happiness” (Weitz, 101-126). The reason for this increase has to do with the feeling of duty and importance that a voter experiences. People who vote feel like a more important part of their society, and thus, their happiness increases as a result (Winters et al., 5-23). A simple way to maximize this effect is to reframe the way society sees and thinks about voter participation. Such a reframing would have to be carried out by the government with the aid of social media, and would result in a fairer, happier, and more democratic system.

Importance of Voting

Voting is seen as something that a model citizen exemplifies; according to a 2018 Pew Research survey, 74% of Americans viewed election participation as a good determinant of good citizenship, which ranked above paying taxes and adhering to the rule of law (Pew Research Center). Edith Hall, a Classics professor at King's College London, draws a connection between the results of the Pew survey and overall happiness and concludes that, “our happiness depends partly on whether we are at ease with our fellow citizens in our nation” (Hall). In other words, if someone is seen as a “good citizen” who participates during elections, their overall happiness will increase because they are being placed at a higher societal standard. Additionally, from a purely political perspective, research from the Center for American Progress states that a functioning democracy must have a high voter turnout in order to adhere to the citizens’ principals (Root et al.). However, voter participation in the United States has been declining for the past two decades, and now stands at 60% turnout during presidential elections and 50% during congressional elections (US Census Bureau). This fact begs the question; why is it that a large portion of the population acknowledges that voting is important, yet chooses not to participate themselves?

Low Turnout

Razvan Vlaicu from the Inter-American Development Research Department arrived at the conclusion that although voting is vital to democracy, “(it) can be viewed as irrational from a purely individualistic point of view. There are real costs in time and money to acquiring knowledge about political issues; even when traveling to a voting site” (Razvan). This time commitment, combined with the fact that the electoral college makes voters feel as if their vote “doesn't matter” has led to a decline in participation (Heckleman, 599-601). Research conducted by Philosopher and Professor of Political Science Geoffery Brennan, further explains how voting - from an individualistic perspective - is not worth a voter’s time, “for nearly every individual citizen, voting does not maximize expected utility” (Brennan, 149-175). Here, Brennan uses the word “utility” as a way of describing the best possible use of an individuals’ time, and argues that a voter who does not see the direct outcome of their individual vote will simply not show up to the polls. Since the voting population has no incentive to vote, then it should be expected that participation during elections is low. This is why the government must make it clear that voting is worth one’s time not only because it strengthens our democratic system, but because it furthers one’s engagement and happiness. As described by 19th century philosopher John Stuart Mill, “happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable as an end; all other things being only desirable as means to that end” (Mill). If we are to live by the idea that happiness is the sole end of human action, then voters must realize that they can come closer to achieving this goal by voting.

Happiness and Voting

Research has proven that participating in elections has a positive effect on an individuals’ happiness. Ann Baker, a researcher at Adelaide University, was able to demonstrate that people who participate in elections are happier because people feel like they are part of something larger than themselves when they vote, which in turn provides happiness and a sense of stability (Baker, 1-18). In a sister study, Political Science Professor at the University of Illinois UC Matthew Winters, states that people are happier after voting because they know they made a difference in their community that will - in the long run - increase their own happiness (Winters, 5-23). The human brain rewards one’s kindness with a feeling of happiness, dubbed the “Helper’s High”, this emotion makes a voter feel happier about their participation since they are voting for the greater good of their community. In addition, Winters suggests that “voting may nonetheless improve a citizen's sense of relatedness, since voting is a symbolic expression of membership in a preferred political party or ideological group” (Winters, 5-23). These researchers believe that voting participation increases happiness due to a combination of two things; a feeling of greater national importance, and a sense that voting is benefiting one’s community. Yet, other academics, political researchers, and psychologists see the resulting feeling one gets from voting as a way to achieve a different level of happiness. Many of these academics cite some of the greatest thinkers of our time - like the Dalai Lama - when trying to decipher the connection between voting and happiness. The Dalai Lama explains that “happiness at this deeper level is (due to) the sense of fulfillment that you experience” (Abrams). Following this statement, some have attempted to connect voting with this so-called “deeper sense of fulfillment.” Research conducted in 2010 showed that US citizens see voting as a national duty, and therefore show up to the polling station as a way to obtain a sense of national fulfillment (Mackie, 227-245). This study draws a direct connection with the happiness definition that the Dalai Lama provides, further suggesting that the reason behind voting is to achieve a deeper sense of self-achievement. 

Past Solutions and Government’s Place

There is no shortage of proposed solutions when it comes to increasing voter turnout that would, thereby, increase happiness. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) details multiple steps that can be taken to bring more people to the polls. One of these suggestions is to allow same-day registration, which would allow new voters to verify their identity and register as voters the day of the election. According to the NCSL, “same day registration has the most effect on increasing voter turnout” (Hubler & Owens). Although it can be argued that improving voter turnout through existing government institutions is the path that must be taken in order to further national happiness, a more plausible solution is to reframe the issue of voting entirely. In the 21st century, the easiest way to change the perception of an issue is through social media. In 2019, 72% of the American population reported accessing a social media site every day (Pew Research Center). Utilizing this technology will be vital if the government is to launch a campaign that will increase voter turnout and re-market it as a way to obtain happiness. Now, the question becomes; why would the government want happy citizens? One of the answers to this question is that, “happy people have a higher desire to perform more volunteer work… have a higher respect for law and order… and extend more help to others” (Ott, 3-22). Simply said, happier people are better members of their community who hold the government at higher prestige. Additionally, Vlaicu Razvan examined how governments were to react if their constituents became unhappy, and discovered that after a certain point, people begin to lose faith in their established political system (Razvan). This is catastrophic to the government because they are supposed to act as representatives of the people, and if the happiness of said people is low, the government is directly to blame. Lastly, the measure by which a government is successful largely depends on the happiness of its citizens, thereby, the government is happiest if the citizens are happiest.

Past Solutions and Limitation

Such campaigns - where a political issue has been reframed -  have been launched before. In 2014, the United States Aid Program published a document which detailed how its members should use social media to change the perception of the US Aid Program ("Social Networking”). Based on this document, what is being proposed in this paper is an overhaul of the political message as it relates to voting. This reframing campaign would place an emphasis on happiness, and how a citizen should vote not because it is their Constitutional duty, but because it would increase their own sense of fulfilment and importance. The easiest way to achieve this is by creating a centralized committee that oversees social media advertisements and comes up with new ways to reframe the issue of voting. Additionally, the money used to conduct this campaign would come from political candidates themselves. In the 2020 presidential election, candidates raised over $6.5 billion dollars that were used on political ads alone (Grothaus, 1-3). The government should set boundaries on the kind of political advertisements candidates post on social media as they relate to voting, and create guidelines as to how they hope to reframe voting. This is not just a positive outcome for the government, but the candidates themselves would benefit from reframing the voting issue. In a country where voting participation stands at a bleak 60%, candidates would greatly benefit by spending a few million dollars on advertisements that would increase their supporters’ turnout. Consequently, this solution does not come without its limitations. One of them is the nature of social media, where it has become incredibly common to encounter misinformation. According to the Poynter Institute of Media Studies, US adults believe that 66% of the information they see through social media is false or incorrect (Blatchford). Thus, the American public might find it difficult to believe that this re-marketing technique is legitimate. Additionally, it can be argued that those who are happier choose to disengage in politics - and therefore - if the re-marketing campaign is successful and happiness is increased, voter participation could decrease in the long run. George Ward from the World Happiness Report explains that, people who are more satisfied with their lives may feasibly disengage from politics, having already reached a level of comfortable apathy. In this sense, it has been speculated that raising happiness could lead to "an emptying of democracy" (World Happiness Report). Despite these limitations, the government must make itself responsible for the happiness of its citizens through the reframing of American’s attitudes on voting. This strategy would increase both happiness and voter participation; which are two places where the United States must act quickly if it is to be dubbed, “the greatest country on Earth.”