Voting Practices in the UK and USA and Their Outcomes

Richard Valiente, Class of 2019, completed majors in Business Management & Political Science, & minors in Business Finance & Legal Studies
 

Having so many interests to choose with my majors made

taking on a capstone project a very daunting task at first, and for a while I had no idea what I wanted to research or write about. I knew I wanted to find a topic that would touch upon both of these fields but there were just so many different topics to choose from. While contemplating various research projects, the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum was suggested by one of my classmates. This referendum touched upon both of my interests and involved a nation and continent that I would be visiting soon for the first time. I couldn’t have been more excited to know that this is what I wanted to research.

With the help of several faculty members and the Honors 301 seminar class I was able to narrow down this complex idea into a thesis question that would focus on the influence of populism on the referendum vote. This topic piqued my interest because of its relevance to today’s political and economic atmosphere. My capstone research looked into what motivated voters, as well as what is to come as a result of the 2016 vote in favor of a British exit. With the help of my mentor and Honors 301 professor, I was able to get a better understanding of how to develop my capstone and write a research paper.

Using the outcome of the vote, I analyzed voting patterns along with several campaign messages from various political parties throughout the European Union. This helped my understanding of pressing issues in the United Kingdom as well as differences in political ideologies. I learned that the nationalist ideology that swept voters off their feet to vote was an ideology that was seen before in several other countries throughout Europe. One of the research papers I read explained the influence of populism on European countries and how it has been transformed into a nationalist movement by many political parties and leaders. The more I did research the more intrigued I was. For example, I found similarities and connections between my research and the 2016 presidential elections in United States that made it even more interesting.

Through my capstone experience I have learned so much about research and have come to appreciate it in a new way. This capstone experience has given me skills that I couldn’t have learned otherwise, from learning to conduct in-depth research with classmates and other professionals, to learning about the artistry behind every phrase and sentence. To further this research, I would like to someday take a look back at the research I conducted and compare it to the realized effects of the United Kingdom’s departure on the world economy and political state. In several years many implications that scholars have proposed will have materialized and it will be interesting to see how the influence of populism and nationalist movements have impacted them.