Ch. 8: Political Participation

I. Closer look at nonvoting Problem: First Explanation  Voter Apathy. . .So when do more vote? Problem: Better Explanation Low number registered How to cure the Problem One idea that has been used: “get-out-the-vote drives”  These attempts fail because the main issue is registration. Another plan is to get more people to register to vote: Potential roadblocks Apathy In US, burden of registering to vote falls on the individual voter Costs compared to Europe time and energy reregister if you move

Nonvoting Continued Make it easier to register: motor-voter law, 1995 (Democrats in favor, Republicans against…why?) but the effects are mixed, however, it did increase registration a study in 2001 stated “that those who register when the process is costless are less likely to vote.”

The Rise of the American Electorate From state to federal control Initially, states decided who could vote for which offices Why the states? This led to wide variation in federal elections: Historic Qualifications 15th Amendment Women’s Suffrage Youth Vote 23rd Amendment- ratified 1961, gave District of Columbia residents the right to vote in presidential elections Current Qualifications

From State to Federal Control: Historic Qualifications Article 1: members of the H of R be chosen by the “people of the several states.” Religion (eliminated by state legislatures) Property (eliminated by state legislatures) Race (eliminated by 15th Amendment) Sex (eliminated by 19th Amendment) Income (eliminated 24th Amendment [poll tax]) Literacy (Voting Rights Act of 1965) Minimum age of 21 (eliminated by 26th Amendment) Know these for the Ch. 8 test!!

From State to Federal Control: 15th Amendment Following the interpretations of the 15th Amendment Southern states used evasive stratagems to keep blacks from voting. Literacy test Poll tax Grandfather clause—allowing the poor, illiterate white person to vote--if he or his ancestors voted before 1867 he did not need to meet the requirements White primaries When all else failed, intimidation was used Most of these stratagems ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court

From State to Federal Control: Women's voting rights Noooo! Don’t let the women vote… they will ruin everything! Several western states permitted women to vote by 1915 Nineteenth Amendment ratified 1920 No dramatic changes in outcomes

From State to Federal Control: Youth Vote Voting Rights Act of 1970 Young people tend to have the lowest turnout when the 26th Amendment was ratified in 1971, turnout declined

From State to Federal Control: Current Qualifications Citizenship Residency Age Registration (except ND)

Voter turnout: Who votes? Who doesn't? Who cares? Debate of declining percentages: two theories Real decline as popular interest and party competition decreases Apparent decline, induced in part by more honest ballot counts of today--ergo the saying: "Vote early, vote often!" The Jungle--U Sinclair Parties once printed ballots Ballots cast in public Parties controlled counting Australian ballot began to be adopted in 1910—Define

Voter turnout: Who votes? Who doesn't? Who cares? Most scholars see some real decline in US due to several causes: Registration more difficult Long Ballot: excessive # of offices and issues Type of election: General election turnout > primary election turnout Chief executive election turnout > legislative election turnout. Presidential elections have the highest turnout. National election turnout > state election turnout Too many elections – “ballot fatigue”

Voter turnout: Who votes? Who doesn't? Who cares? Characteristics of those most likely to vote Level of Education-greatest predictor of voting (cuts across others) Income-those with higher levels are more likely to vote Age- Older people (except for the very old or infirm) are more likely to vote. Race-whites vote more than blacks vote more than Hispanics why?? However, when the effects of income and education are eliminated, blacks and whites vote at the same rates.

Voter turnout: Who votes? Who doesn't? Who cares? Does low turnout really matter?? If voters accurately represented a cross-section of the US (accurate sampling) then low turnout would be relatively unimportant The problem is that some groups (which?) vote at a much higher rate than others and are overrepresented.  ”Class Bias”

Who participates in politics? Forms of participation Voting the most common Six forms of participation Inactives: 1/5 of the pop. Voting specialists: vote, but do little else Campaigners: vote and likely to get involved in campaign activities Communalists: vote, reserve energy for community activities Parochial participants: do not vote, stay out of election campaigns and civic associations but are willing to contact local officials about personal concerns Complete activists: 1/9 of pop.

Who participates in politics? The causes/factors affecting voter behavior Geography Solid South -traditionally Democratic, but increasingly Republican (1980) Great Plains -Republican trend Rocky Mountains -Republican trend New England -traditionally Republican, but increasingly Dem. in recent years Great Lakes region -Democratic trend, but several swing states e.g. Ohio West- Democratic trend

Who participates in politics? The meaning of participation rates Americans vote less, but participate more Other forms of activity becoming more common Some forms more common here than in other countries Americans elect more officials and have more elections U.S. turnout rates heavily skewed to higher status persons

2000 Presidential Election

2004 Presidential Election

2008