1. Political Participation and Voter Behavior
Who Participates?
Voter Turnout
Voter Registration

2. Political Participation
Encompasses the various activities that citizens employ in their efforts to influence policy making and the selection of leaders

3. Political Participation
People participate in politics in many ways
They may write their representative or senator
Work for a candidate or political party
Make presentations to their local school board or city council

4. Political Participation
Partly because our federalist system, people have many opportunities to participate in our democracy on:
National level
State level
Local level

5. Political Participation
Some forms of participation are more common than others
Some citizens participate more than others

6. Political Participation
Americans in general are comparatively active in politics
However, the U.S. is notorious among modern democracies in voter turnout rates

7. Political Participation
Turnout for the U.S. presidential election of 2000 was about 50%
By contrast, most western democracies in Europe have vote rates well above 70%

8. Types of Participation
Researchers have found for years that American citizens most commonly participate in national politics by following presidential campaigns & voting in presidential elections

9. Types of Participation
According to the National Election studies from the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan, Americans reported the following types of political participation during the campaign election of 2000:

10. Types of Participation
82% watched the campaign on TV
73% voted in the election
34% tried to influence others how to vote
10% put a sticker on their car or wore a button

11. Types of Participation
9% gave money to help a campaign
5% attended a political meeting
3% worked for a party or candidate
Lesser % participated in protests

12. Types of Participation
These statistics can be deceptive because they reflect how people say they participate
Despite the fact that 73% said they voted in the 2000 election, about 50% actually did

13. Types of Participation
One explanation is that people know that they should vote & don’t want to admit it if they did not

14. Who Participates?
Experts have found several demographics (social & economic characteristics) to be strongly associated with high levels of political participation

15. Who Participates? 1. Education 2. Religious Involvement
3. Race & Ethnicity
4. Age
5. Gender

16. Education
Single most important characteristic of a politically active citizen is a high level of education
Generally, the more education an individual has, the more likely he or she is to vote

17. Education
Generally, the more education an individual has, the more likely he or she is to vote

18. Why?

19. Education
Perhaps the well educated better understand complex societal issues
Maybe they better understand the importance of civic responsibility

20. Education
Or it could just be that their occupation are more flexible in allowing them to take time to go to the polls

21. Religious Involvement
As religious involvement increases, so does political participation

22. Why?

23. Religious Involvement
Some possibilities are that church involvement leads to:
1. Social connectedness
2. Teaches organizational skills
3. Increases one’s awareness or larger societal issues

24. Race & Ethnicity
If only race & ethnicity are considered, whites have higher voting rates than do blacks & Latinos

25. Race & Ethnicity However, that tendency is somewhat deceptive
Some studies that control for income & education differences have found that voting races are about the same for white, blacks, and Latinos

26. Age
Despite the big push in the early 1970s to allow 18 yr. olds to vote, voting levels for year olds are the lowest of any age category

27. Age Older people are more likely to vote than are younger people
The highest percentages of eligible voters who actually vote are in those groups 45 and above

28. Gender For many years women were underrepresented in the voting booths
In recent elections, they have turned out in at least equal numbers to men

29. Age Since 1992, turnout among women voters has exceeded that of men
This trend is relatively new

30. Who Participates?
It is important to note that an individual is affected by many factors: his or her age, social class, education level, race, gender, and party affiliation

31. Who Participates? These factors form cross-cutting cleavages
Making it very important to control for other factors that may produce a counter influence

32. Who Participates?
For example, in order to compare gender differences in voting rates, a researcher would have to compare men & women of similar ages, education level, race, & party affiliation

33. Who Participates?
Otherwise, the voting behavior may be caused by a factor other than gender