1. Chapter 7

2. WSU Essay #4 Political Participation What are several factors political scientists believe are responsible for low voter turnout on election day in America? What tangible factors make voting in America challenging at best? Discuss four of those factors that are real barriers to voting. 2

3. Reasons people don’t vote Low politically efficacy. Political parties are not the mobilizing force they used to be Individuals do not perceive personal benefits from voting Elections are now less competitive; incumbents get re-elected, so why vote? Recent younger generations have not acquired the habit of voting in the way that earlier generations did; thus, as older voting people die off, they are being replaced by younger nonvoters, which lowers turnout rate Lack of social connectedness—individuals not so integrated into society through extended families, neighborhoods, religious organizations and the like as they used to be Individuals of lower socio-economic standing vote in low proportions to their numbers No interest in the election. History of the franchise in the US. Recognition that voting and registration are easier than ever today—motor-voter registration; registering with people who are empowered to register voters; individuals can request an advance mail-in ballot, so they can avoid the voting lines on election day. 3 Exceeds expectationsStudent addresses 7-9 of these points Meet expectationsstudent addresses 4-6 of these points Does NOT meet expectationstudent addresses fewer than 4 of these points

4. 4 Chapter 7 - Scenario 1: Read the Introduction on page 207-208. Based on what you already know or have read, what is your opinion of the TEA Party?

5. Democracy and Political Participation  Democratic ideal is “government run by the people”  Difficulty lies with definitions of how much and what kind of participation needed  Direct democracy versus democracy carried out by representatives  Elections necessary for democracy, but do not ensure democracy  Elections in former Soviet Union, but not a democracy 5

6. Quick Discussion  Brainstorm with someone next to you:  What are some common ways people participate in their government?  What are some more uncommon behaviors in which people participate in their government? 6

7. Political Participation  All citizen activities that attempt to influence government’s structure, selection of officials, or policies  Conventional participation  Common/routine behavior: campaigning, voting, writing letters  Unconventional participation  Uncommon behavior, challenges/defies establishment: sit down strikes, preventing entrance outside abortion clinic 7

8. Unconventional Participation  Can range from protest marches to terrorist activities  1995 bombing of Oklahoma City’s Federal Building by Timothy McVeigh  Terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001  Nidal Hasan – 2009 shot 13 at Ft. Hood  Terrorists do not seek to participate in govt but to destroy it. 8

9. Unconventional Participation 9 March 7, 2010: Thousands marched across a bridge outside Selma, Alabama to commemorate the “Bloody Sunday” 45 years earlier in 1965 when people were beaten during a voting rights protest. Unconventional participation because marching 50 miles is not common.

10. Support for Unconventional Participation  Boston Tea Party in 1773 first of many violent protests  Most Americans not willing to participate in unconventional political activities  Sometimes difficult to define which activities fall under heading of “unconventional political participation”  Demonstrations and boycotts difficult to decide whether conventional or unconventional. 10

11. Figure 7.1 What Americans Think Is Conventional Behavior 11 A survey presented Americans with three forms of political participation outside the electoral process and asked them if they have done, might do, or would never do any of them. People overwhelmingly approved of signing petitions. Attending demonstrations (a Constitutional right), would never be done by 30%. Boycotts was less objectionable and more widely practiced. According to this survey, demonstrations and boycotts are only marginally conventional forms of political participation.

12. 12 Anti-war protest - 1968 - in Chicago. Most viewers condemned the demonstrators, not the police.

13. The Effectiveness of Unconventional Participation  Unconventional participation not always successful, even when violent. But does it work?  Yes, sometimes.  LBJ didn’t seek reelection 1968  Military draft ended 1973  Helped 26 th Amendment 1971  Obamacare public disapproval rose 29% to 53% between April – Dec. 2009  Montgomery busy boycott (Rosa Parks) sparked civil rights movement  Civil rights laws 13

14. The Effectiveness of Unconventional Participation  Direct action (Assembling crowds to confront business/government) appeals most to persons who distrust the political system and have a strong sense of political efficacy  Participation also depends on an individual’s group consciousness: identification with their group and its objectives  Americans about as likely to participate as citizens of other nations 14

15.  Do you think Americans are more or less apathetic when it comes to participating in politics than other countries? 15

16. Compared with What? Popular Participation in Politics 16 Compared with 8 other nations, Americans are not noticeably apathetic when it comes to politics. Americans much less likely to join demonstrations.

17. The Effectiveness of Unconventional Participation 17 The 1943 Norman Rockwell painting “Freedom of Speech” during the WWII era was idealized. But it still reflected civility in exercising freedom of speech that seems absent today. Consider the August 2009 photo of Representative John Dingell’s (D) town hall meeting in Michigan to discuss health care.

18. 18 Antiwar Protest, 2009 On December 1, 2009, President Obama announced that he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. On December 2, scattered protests against his action broke out across the nation. This march occurred in Minneapolis. Like the 1968 Vietnam antiwar protests, the 2009 protests were fueled by young people. Perhaps because the males were not threatened by the military draft, the 2009 protests were milder.

19. Conventional Participation  Practical test for democracy: can citizens influence policies by acting through its institutions?  Meeting with officials, supporting candidates, voting  If people must operate outside institutions, it is not democratic.  The less that participants anticipate a threat, the more likely the protest will be conventional. 19

20.  Two major categories for conventional participation:  Supportive behavior  Influencing behavior 20

21. Supportive Behavior  Actions that express allegiance to country and government  Pledge, flying flag, voting, organizing holiday parade, working voting polls  Sometimes actions an individual sees as supportive actually suppress democracy 21

22. Influencing Behavior  Some types of behavior seek benefits; others have broad policy objectives  Particular benefits - those that benefit self, immediate family, or friends  Very common at local level, especially “contacting behavior;” may require little initiative  Removing a dead tree, dealing with a dangerous dog, getting a park  More common with those of higher socioeconomic status  NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard  Campaign contributions also on this list  Particular benefits = democratic since it encourages participation. 22 Gitmo Prisoners: NIMBY!

23. Influencing Behavior  Broad Policy Objectives – activities that influence selection of government officials and policies  Also require different levels of initiative  Low initiative: voting, wearing candidate’s shirt, visiting candidate’s website  Higher initiative: running for office, holding meetings, working on campaigns, attending hearings, or using the court system 23

24. The Twitter Revolution 24 After the June 2009 election in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared reelected with 62 percent of the votes—avoiding a runoff by winning more than 50 percent. Outside observers supported claims of massive voting fraud. Popular protests spread across the country, especially in Tehran, and were brutally put down. People captured the beatings on their cell phones, transmitted the images to Western media, and tweeted about the brutality. For the week of June 15–19, the tracking site TweetMeme reported that 98 percent of the links on Twitter were about Iran. Tweeting became a new form of political activity.

25. Influencing Behavior  Citizens who want to participate can do so via the Internet  Comment on proposed rules and regulations at the Federal Register site: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/ http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/  Track economic stimulus funds at: http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx  View congressional voting records: http://www.govtrack.us/ or http://www.thomas.gov/ http://www.govtrack.us/http://www.thomas.gov/  Many other political sites available for wide range of interests 25

26. Conventional Participation in America  Usually only those with a stake in the outcome take high initiative to participate in Congressional or administrative hearings  Most common form of political behavior is voting  Rate of voting is voter turnout  U.S. voter turnout low compared to other industrialized democracies 26

27. Participating Through Voting  Electoral process heart of democratic government  Rules for suffrage, or franchise, and rules for counting ballots and electoral systems define process  Who can vote  How much each vote counts  How many votes needed to win  No nation has universal suffrage 27

28. Expansion of Suffrage  U.S. first to hold mass elections, but suffrage limited by states  Initially only landowners or taxpayers  By 1850s, all working-class males  Suffrage for blacks and women took longer 28

29. The Enfranchisement of Blacks  Even with passage of Fifteenth Amendment after Civil War, some states resisted  Poll taxes, literacy tests, “white primary,” and violence all deterrents  Supreme Court rulings supporting black suffrage began with Smith v. Allwright (1944) (White primaries outlawed)  Later Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966) ended poll taxes  Voting Rights Act of 1965  Ended voting tests & registered voters in southern states 29

30. Figure 7.2 Voter Registration in the South, 1960, 1980, and 2000 30 As a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other national actions, black voter registration in the eleven states of the old Confederacy nearly doubled between 1960 and 1980. In 2000, there was very little difference between the voting registration rates of white and black voters in the Deep South.

31. The Enfranchisement of Women  Women could not vote anywhere in world until 1869  First to grant women vote in U.S.: Wyoming Territory in 1869  Equal Rights Party formed in 1884 – first female presidential candidate  Women gained national right to vote in 1920 with Nineteenth Amendment 31

32. The Fight for Women’s Suffrage…and Against It 32 Militant suffragettes demonstrated outside the White House prior to ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. Congress passed the proposed amendment in 1919, and it was ratified by the required number of states in time for the 1920 presidential election. Suffragettes’ demonstrations were occasionally disrupted by men—and other women—who opposed extending the right to vote to women.

33. Evaluating the Expansion of Suffrage in America  Last major expansion was 26 th Amendment in 1971  Lowered voting age to 18  Though process towards generally universal suffrage slow, U.S. still ahead of many other countries, including other democracies 33

34. Interesting Suffrage Facts From Around the World  Women equal voting with men in: Norway 1921, Japan 1946, Switzerland 1971.  Women can’t vote in national elections in Saudi Arabia  Blacks couldn’t vote freely in South Africa until 1994.  34 countries set voting age at 21. Fewer than a dozen allow under 18 to vote  Overall, U.S. historically is about as good as other countries voting rights 34

35. Voting on Policies  Political power comes with suffrage  Progressivism flourished from 1900 to 1925; proposed several electoral changes:  Direct primary: preliminary election where voters choose party’s candidates for general election  Recall: removing an elected official from office. 20 states have this but rarely used  Referendum: election on a policy issue.  Initiative: voters can propose an issue to be decided by legislature or referendum. Needs signatures of registered voters (usually 5-10%) and then petition. 24 states have this.  Not clear if these opportunities improve policies made by elected representatives 35 2003 See page 227

36. Figure 7.3 Westward Ho! 36 This map shows quite clearly the western basis of the initiative, referendum, and recall mechanisms intended to place government power directly in the hands of the people. Advocates of ‘‘direct legislation’’ sought to bypass entrenched powers in state legislatures. Established groups and parties in the East dismissed them as radicals and cranks, but they gained the support of farmers and miners in the Midwest and West. The Progressive forces usually aligned with Democrats in western state legislatures to enact their proposals, often against Republican opposition.

37. Voting for Candidates  Serves democratic government two ways:  Voters can choose candidate they think will best represent their interests  Voting allows citizens to re-elect candidates or vote them out of office  U.S. government has few elected officials compared to state and local governments  U.S. has more frequent and varied elections than any other country in the world – but lower voter turnout than many 37 See page 231

38. The Growth of Electoral Democracy 38

39. Explaining Political Participation  Political participation can be:  Conventional or unconventional  Require little or require much initiative  Serve to support government or influence its decisions  People who participate in one way may not participate in others 39

40. Patterns of Political Participation Over Time  Generally, Americans’ participation stable over time  Socioeconomic status a good indicator of most types of participation  Income  Education (most important)  Occupation  Age, race, and gender also important 40 More aware of effect of politics on lives.

41.  More educated = more unconventional participation  Younger = more unconventional like demonstrations/boycotts but less likely to participate in conventional  Voting rates increase as people grow older until the age of 65 41

42.  Blacks vote in comparable % to whites when SES taken into account  Married = more likely to vote than single  Education strongest indicator of participation 42

43. Figure 7.4 Effects of Education on Political Participation 43 Education has a powerful effect on political participation in the United States. These data from a 2008 sample show that level of education is directly related to five different forms of conventional political participation. (Respondents tend to overstate whether they voted.)

44. Low Voter Turnout in America  Difficult to explain decline in voter turnout in America  26 th Amendment (younger voters tend not to vote)  Belief that government no longer responsive to citizens; politicians too packaged  Change in attitude about political parties  62% voter turnout in 2008 election, matching highs in the 1960s. 44

45. Reasons people don’t vote  Low politically efficacy.  Political parties are not the mobilizing force they used to be  Individuals do not perceive personal benefits from voting  Elections are now less competitive; incumbents get re-elected, so why vote?  Recent younger generations have not acquired the habit of voting in the way that earlier generations did; thus, as older voting people die off, they are being replaced by younger nonvoters, which lowers turnout rate  Lack of social connectedness—individuals not so integrated into society through extended families, neighborhoods, religious organizations and the like as they used to be  Individuals of lower socio-economic standing vote in low proportions to their numbers  No interest in the election.  History of the franchise in the US. Recognition that voting and registration are easier than ever today—motor-voter registration; registering with people who are empowered to register voters; individuals can request an advance mail-in ballot, so they can avoid the voting lines on election day. 45

46. Figure 7.5 The Decline of Voter Turnout: An Unsolved Puzzle 46 Education strongly predicts the likelihood of voting in the United States. The percentage of adult citizens with a high school education or more has grown steadily since the end of World War II, but the overall rate of voter turnout trended downward from 1960 to 1996 and is still below the levels two decades after the war. Why turnout decreased as education increased is an unsolved puzzle in American voting behavior.

47. U.S. Turnout Versus Turnout in Other Countries  Differences in voting laws and administrative machinery affect voter turnout in the U.S.  Tuesday Election Day not a public holiday  Burdensome registration procedures  Political parties not tied to certain groups  Most elections not particularly competitive  Large number of elections and candidates means difficult for voters to educate selves 47

48. Participation and Freedom, Equality, and Order  Participation and freedom  Citizens free to participate when and how they want (or not)  Citizens free to use personal resources to pursue any legal means to influence government decisions 48

49. Participation and Freedom, Equality, and Order  Participation and equality requires that each citizen’s ability to influence government be equal to every other citizen  Differences in resources should not matter  Elections serve ideal of equality best  One person, one vote  Groups can band together to increase influence  Blacks, Hispanics, homosexuals increasing in political power 49

50. Participation and Freedom, Equality, and Order  Relationship between participation and order complicated  Some types of participation promote order (voting, pledge allegiance); others, disorder  Women’s right to vote = upsetting social order  Political system more threatened by unconventional participation  26 th Amendment effort to bring order to Vietnam War protests  Was the right to vote to 18 year olds simply attempt to curb disorder by channeling youth energy?

51. Participation and Models of Democracy  Elections implement democracy by allowing citizens to choose among candidates and issues  Elections socialize political activity  Elections institutionalize access to political power  Elections bolster the state’s power and authority 51

52. Participation and Majoritarianism  Majoritarian theory views participation narrowly  Favors conventional participation, especially voting  Bias towards equality in elections  Some say goes hand in hand with communitarianism  Because majoritarian theory favors formalized, collective decisions, little place for private influence 52