1. Chapter 8: Political Participation
AP US Government

2. Presentation Outline 1) How American Elections Work
2) Evolution of Voting Rights
3) Historical + Current barriers to Voting Rights
4) Voter turnout
5) Voting patterns

3. 1) How American Elections Work
Three types of elections:
Select party nominees (primary elections)
Select officeholders (general elections)
Select options on specific policies
Referendum: state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve proposed legislation or constitutional amendment
Initiative petition: process permitted in some states whereby voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote, given a sufficient number of signatures

4. 2) Evolution of Voting Rights
Suffrage: the legal right to vote
Extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment
Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned voting discrimination directed towards African- Americans
Extended to Women by the Nineteenth Amendment
Extended to people over 18 years of age by the Twenty-Sixth Amendment

5. 3) Historical + Current Barriers to Voting Rights
After the 15th Amendment extended the right to vote to African-Americans a series of discriminatory voting requirements ensured that few Blacks would actually vote, and that few candidates who supported Black civil rights would win (1870s-1960s):
Literacy test
Poll tax
Grandfather clause

6. Literacy tests like the one above from the state of Louisiana were designed to prevent uneducated Blacks from voting. If you could not pass the test, you could not vote.

7. The poll tax was designed to prevent Blacks from voting- many were poor and could not afford the tax
$1.50 back in 1948 was a half day’s wage for some.

8. The grandfather clause allowed poor Southern Whites to vote without the literacy test or poll tax as long as they could proved that their ancestors had voted before 1867

9. Current Voting requirements
Registering To Vote
Voter Registration: a system adopted by the states that requires voters to register well in advance of the election day
Registration procedures differ by state.
Motor Voter Act: passed in 1993, requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for their driver’s license
How could these requirements discourage some people from voting?

10. 4) Voter turnout U.S. has low voter turnout
Downs: it is rational to not vote
Those who see clear differences between parties are likely to vote.
If indifferent, then one may rationally abstain from voting.
Political Efficacy: the belief that one’s political participation really matters
Civic Duty: the belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should always vote

11. What accounts for the trend below?

12. Why do fewer people turn out to vote during congressional cycle elections?

13. Why is voter turnout so low during primaries?

15. 5) Voting Patterns Who Votes?
Education: More education = more likely to vote. Most important factor
Age: Older = more likely to vote
Race: Caucasian = more likely to vote. BUT, other ethnicities are higher with comparable education
Gender: Female = more likely to vote

16. Who Votes?
Marital Status: Married = more likely to vote
Union Membership: Union member = more likely to vote
Traits are cumulative–possessing several adds up

17. What conclusions can you draw from this table?

18. Voting Patterns Democrats: Kennedy(1960) Obama (2008) Republicans:
Nixon (1960)
McCain (2008)

19. What general conclusions can you draw regarding voting preferences among Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks?
What might account for these preferences?