A swing voter is any person who is eligible to vote but has no allegiance with any political party. This means the voter can vote for any political party. The decisions of swing voters are unpredictable and can swing the outcomes of an election. Being that there are only two political parties in America, swing voters are very essential in making the elections unpredictable.

I agree with Klein’s argument that the system killed swing voters off. It is hard for one to realize this given that the two party systems started a long time ago and the two parties have always argued. However, the political systems are changing. As Klein argues, it is not the voters that are changing rather, the political parties that are changing. The two parties have become very polarized and making a choice between the two is easier (Klein, 2015). The parities have adopted very different ideologies on policies and the voters have a clear choice.

Consider for example the current platforms for the two parties on illegal immigration. The republicans are in favor of legal immigration and argue that all illegal immigrants should be deported back. On the other hand, the democrats favor immigration reforms and amnesty for young people who are willing to contribute to the well being of the American society. These are two differing policies. In this kind of a situation, the voters have a clear choice to make. No voter will be indifferent unto which policy to favor (Klein, 2015).

In later years, the parties generated platforms that were much more alike. This made it hard for voters to make a clear choice and thus choose to remain independent. However, currently, voters have become more informed about the differences in the two parties. In addition, more people have become politically active

Klein argues that not long time ago, elected republicans agreed more with the democrats than with other republicans. The political scientists viewed this as a risk to democracy (Klein, 2015). They called on to both parties to sharpen their differences. It seems the political parties were good at doing this. The differences have never been different as they are today. The choice between the two parties has become clearer even for those who are politically inattentive.

This is a bad thing for the country. The independent voters made the elections unpredictable. The political parties have no reason to stick closer to the center since there are swing voters to try and woe. Thus, the ruling party can do whatever they want because at the end of the day, their supporters remain loyal and will still vote for the party.  The swing voters kept the parties at check and with their disappearance poor governance may take effect.  The assumption that well-informed voters are better is not working (Klein, 2015). For there to be a balance, there must be voters of all kind including those who are not informed, those not committed to any party and those who do not know what they want.

The differences between the two political parties are huge making it easy for the voters to make a clear choice. The era of independent voters is long gone. Though most of the Americans still identify themselves as independent, their voting patterns portrays otherwise. Predictably, they are partisans pretending to be independent.

References

Klein, E. (2015, December 10). How American politics killed off swing voters. Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://www.vox.com/2015/12/10/9882138/swing-voters

 
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