1. What if.pdf Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall

2. In Laredo there are over 100,000 registered voters and yet about ¼ go to the polls Get out the vote…. Reasons????? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall

3. Prentice Hall PoliticalScienceInteractive Magleby et al. Government by the People Chapter 8 Participation &Voting Public Opinion

4. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Changes in Voting Eligibility Standards Since 1870

5. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Securing the Right to Vote The elimination of property qualifications (1800-1840) The Fifteenth Amendment (1870)/African Americans Continued denial of voting rights (1871- 1964) (literacy tests, poll taxes, intimidation tactics…) The Civil Rights Act, the Twenty-fourth Amendment (18 yr. olds), and the Voting Rights Act, 1964-1965(bans literacy tests, eased registration requirements and

6. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Voter Turnout in Western Democracies Average Turnout 1991-2000

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8. Why People Don’t Vote

9. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Percentage of African Americans Registered to Vote, 1980-2004

10. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Awareness and Interest Knowledge Levels Politics is not the major interest of most Americans and as a result, knowledge about the political system is limited

11. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Participation: Translating Opinions into Action Only a small percentage of the American people are actively engaged in the political process.

12. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Turnout Voter Turnout in Presidential and Congressional Elections

13. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Voting: Registration In an effort to make registration easier, states have made registration forms available at motor vehicle stations, schools, public buildings, and even highway tollbooths

14. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Voting: Registration Spanish language registration forms, where they are used, may ease the burden of registration for some

15. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Counting Votes Until the 2000 election, Americans took the counting of ballots for granted. This is no longer the case.

16. Hanging Chads… Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall

18. Aaaahh! The Case of Rick Flores vs. Martin Cuellar What was up with that???? (March 2008 Primary) Powerpoint with Changes.pptx County VideoProject.wmv Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall

19. Interpreting Political Cartoons Groups analyze cartoons/discuss/formulate answers. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall

20. How Serious is Nonvoting? “I’m not going to shed any crocodile tears if people don’t care enough to vote….I’d be extremely happy if nobody in the United States voted except for the people who thought about the issues and made up their own minds and wanted to vote.” - the late Senator Sam Ervin A huge army of nonvoters, “hangs over the democratic process like a bomb ready to explode and change the course of history.” -Arthur Hadley

21. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Voting on the Basis of Party In the absence of reasons to vote otherwise, people depend on party identification to simplify their voting choices. Dramatic increase in self-declared Independents since 1970s Party Identification An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood

22. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Voting on the Basis of Candidates 1980s mark a critical threshold in the emergence of a candidate-centered era Increasingly, campaigns focus on the negative elements of candidates’ history and personality Candidate Appeal How voters feel about a candidate’s background, personality, leadership ability, and other personal qualities

23. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Voting on the Basis of Issues Prospective Issue Voting Voting based on what a candidate pledges to do in the future about an issue if elected Retrospective Issue Voting Holding incumbents responsible for past performance on issues

24. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Figure #8-1

25. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall What is Public Opinion? Public Opinion The distribution of individual preferences, for or evaluations, of a given issue, candidate, or institution within a specific population The proper wording and phrasing of the questions are vitally important to producing reliable, objective data Appropriate language and vocabulary Neutral wording Open-ended versus closed-ended

26. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall What is Public Opinion? Intensity Latency Salience

27. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Family Schools Number of times a week American families say that they eat together Schools teach an idealized view of the nation’s slogans and symbols Agents of Socialization

28. Copyright 2006 Prentice Hall Public Opinion and Public Policy “What I want is to get done what the people desire to be done, and the question for me is how to find that out exactly.” - Abraham Lincoln