eUSA Civic Engagement - Dec 2008
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by Ananias
Immediately following the congressional elections of December 2008, I began researching the level of civic engagement experienced by the eUSA sorted by region.
The results are as follows:
eUSA Region
Region Population at time of survey
Voting presence
Total votes registered
Alabama
114
6.14%
7
Alaska
85
5.88%
5
Arizona
123
9.76%
12
Arkansas
77
7.79%
6
California
1002
9.68%
97
Colorado
153
13.73%
21
Connecticut
70
10.00%
7
Delaware
32
31.25%
10
District of Columbia
276
13.04%
36
Florida
1068
29.49%
315
Georgia
168
10.71%
18
Hawaii
140
12.14%
17
Idaho
58
10.34%
6
Illinois
277
7.58%
21
Indiana
153
7.84%
12
Iowa
85
20.00%
17
Kansas
108
12.96%
14
Kentucky
105
11.43%
12
Louisiana
83
20.48%
17
Maine
59
15.25%
9
Maryland
105
7.62%
8
Massachusetts
172
9.30%
16
Michigan
195
11.28%
22
Minnesota
116
19.83%
23
Mississippi
69
13.04%
9
Missouri
111
22.52%
25
Montana
43
16.28%
7
Nebraska
69
14.49%
10
Nevada
75
18.67%
14
New Hampshire
46
13.04%
6
New Jersey
180
11.67%
21
New Mexico
40
20.00%
8
New York
801
8.36%
67
North Carolina
153
8.50%
13
North Dakota
24
37.50%
9
Ohio
235
8.51%
20
Oklahoma
86
10.47%
9
Oregon
122
7.38%
9
Pennsylvania
244
10.25%
25
Rhode Island
30
30.00%
9
South Carolina
75
8.00%
6
South Dakota
25
48.00%
12
Tennessee
165
14.55%
24
Texas
519
8.09%
42
Utah
73
12.33%
9
Vermont
33
15.15%
5
Virginia
185
12.43%
23
Washington
317
9.46%
30
West Virginia
35
22.86%
8
Wisconsin
104
7.69%
8
Wyoming
34
29.41%
10
eUSA Combined Totals
8717
13.38%
1166
From an analysis perspective, even adding the holiday election day perspective, the results are staggering. On a day that most Americans have off as a national holiday and therefore, it may be assumed, would have the requisite two minutes to vote in the election, the average presence dropped nearly 21% from the previous congressional election (@34% vs 13😵
.
While it may take a few more cycles to identify the exact root cause of this extremely low voter turnout, I propose that there are several contributing factors which we, as an eNation, can address head on:
1) Development of structured training for new eUSA citizens based on a practical tutorial which establishes both the experience necessary and the optimal path for attainment within the eRepublik system.
2) Greater accountability on a regional basis for congressional representation to provide communication, mentorship and encouragement to new members within their region.
3) Establishment of a cabinet level position with the responsibility to oversee public education and welfare.
The development of a focused initiative for civic engagement is both relevant and integral to the expansion and value of eRepublik in general and eUSA as a nation. While the implementation of such an endeavor may receive many detractors, the reality remains that the community has grown to a size that force of personality alone will not contribute to the growth and engagement necessary to ensure eRepublik as a “going concern”, the times now require an organizational structure and commitment from the very personalities which have placed our community on the internet map.
I welcome your feedback, and thank you for reading eNation.
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Comments
I am also concerned about voter turnouts. I have also wrote an article on it:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/newspaper/the-razzle-herald-180528/1
If you are willing, I would appreciate any help.
I am willing to bet that this low voter turnout is nothing but a freak occurance related to the holidays. Check again next month and it will be right back up near 30%.
Thanks Neil, I agree that it probably will as well. Personally, I think the actual vote counts in many states is even a greater concern (though I know there have been some serious issues raised about the top 5 party process). Regardless, I believe that with a focused effort as a community we can raise those percentages, and greater participation (without exception) benefits everyone.
The percentages are interesting for statistics geeks like me, but the actual numbers certainly offer opportunities for improvement that we can all grasp.
@Ananias: The one thing that you should remember is that the state populations include players that are dead. That is to say, players who are inactive or very rarely active. While running for Congress last week I sent tons of PMs to people in my state. You would be shocked to know how many of the people I would have sent messages to were at wellness 0 or less then 10.
@NeilP99
Absolutely undestood, I PM'd like 90% of the population in Oregon. Though I got elected, the fruits of my efforts yielded seven whole votes (which I am deeply appreciative for).
I am interested in why the admins don't change the color of the icon, or some such; but who knows, maybe the dead will rise for the right candidate 🙂.
Thanks agains so much for your feedback!
lol we need admin to remove some of the dead ones it would seem, I can understand wanting to keep the numbers up but if some countries actually started to see there population drop by large numbers it might inspire a new recriutment drive and increase the amount of active players over all which would be good for everyone.
I'm concerned about turnout too, in fact I wrote and article about it:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/appathy-or-holidays--714296/1
I don't think education is going to help that much - think of all the RL voted education/civic engagement/get out the vote programs. And? No real change in voter turnout.
Looks like your stats are including everyone who isn't even eligible to vote...That's going to defintely have a negative impact on your stats. I understand that there is a crisis with low voter turnout, however, including new players in the stats makes it look worse.