Fiorina, Peterson, Johnson, and Mayer

New American Democracy

, Sixth Edition Chapter 6 Individual Participation

© 2009, Pearson Education

History of the Franchise

The Constitution on voting Said little; voter eligibility left to the states. Most states limited the franchise – white male property-owners; later eliminated – Taxpayers. This restriction removed in 1850s – A few states had religious restrictions Not until the eve of the Civil War did the U.S. have universal white male suffrage © 2009, Pearson Education

© 2009, Pearson Education

Voting Rights in the Amendment Process

Between the Civil War and 1971 a series of constitutional amendments expanded electoral access – The 15th Amendment (1870) extended the franchise to black males, but many could not exercise this vote in parts of the South – The Voting Rights Act (1965) reestablished federal oversight of southern elections © 2009, Pearson Education

Voting Rights in the Amendment Process

Women’s suffrage also slow process – Wyoming allowed women to vote in national elections in 1890 – Eleven other states gave women the right to vote by 1916. Most were western states – In 1920 the 19th Amendment gave all women the right to vote © 2009, Pearson Education

Voting Rights in the Amendment Process

The 23rd Amendment (1961) – Granted residents of Washington, D.C., the right to vote for presidential electors The 26th Amendment (1971) – Guaranteed voting rights to those under 21 (Note that states could use a lower age limit if they chose.) – Signed into law by Nixon Trend: steady expansion of the vote Convicted felons are not eligible in many states – Falls heavily on African American males © 2009, Pearson Education

How Voting Rights Spread

Voting rights left up to separate states, which extended suffrage in different ways at different times Politics of voting expansion – Woodrow Wilson and women’s suffrage – His opponent supported it – Women could vote in the West – Wilson could not afford to surrender the West to Hughes so he adopted a moderate stance on women’s suffrage – Women’s suffrage began to look inevitable, so other politicians jumped on the bandwagon France: 1945 Switzerland: Last canton in 1990!

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Why People Participate

Extending suffrage does not automatically lead to increased voter turnout Presidential elections – Half of the electorate stays home Voting is costly – What are some of the costs?

But there are benefits, too – What are some of these?

– Today, most of the benefits are psychological • civic duty to vote Voter mobilization can matter – Efforts of parties, groups, and activists to encourage turnout © 2009, Pearson Education

International Comparisons

Americans vote at much lower levels than people in most other countries The measurement of turnout varies – In the U.S, it is measured by: – Number of people voting for president/ number of people in voting-age population • Formula lowers American turnout as much as 5 percent relative to other countries © 2009, Pearson Education

International Comparisons

Undervotes: – Ballots that indicate no choice for an office, whether because the voter abstained or because the voter’s intention could not be determined Overvotes: when you vote for more than one candidate VAP: voting age population ─ Counting the entire VAP rather than the eligible VAP also lowers turnout figures © 2009, Pearson Education

© 2009, Pearson Education

Personal Costs and Benefits: Registration

Other countries use a different denominator in their turnout calculations – Registered population More than 30 percent of the American voting-age population has not registered When U.S. voting is calculated this way, we move to the middle of turnout for industrial democracies But registration is also automatic in most of the world – Motor Voter law – had little impact – Probably would not erase the participation gap © 2009, Pearson Education

Personal Costs and Benefits: Compulsion

Some countries attach costs to nonvoting Compulsory in some countries – Australia and Belgium – fine nonvoters – Greek electoral law provides for imprisonment of nonvoters for up to 12 months (rarely applied) – Italy – no fine, but DID NOT VOTE is stamped on identification papers. People who don’t vote also have their names posted on community bulletin boards Compulsion raises turnout by about 15 % more than in democracies without it © 2009, Pearson Education

Other Personal Costs and Benefits

Elections traditionally held on Tuesdays Other countries hold them on Sundays or make the election day a holiday – Italian workers receive free train fare back to their place of registration In the U.S., we vote many times during the course of a four year period Being registered to vote sometimes means being registered for jury duty © 2009, Pearson Education

Mobilization and Turnout

American parties have declined as mobilizing agents Interest groups act as mobilizing agents, but they are not as deeply rooted in American politics Overall, weaker mobilization efforts depress turnout by about 10 to 15 percent Therefore, it costs more to vote in the U.S., and individuals receive less support for voting than do citizens in other countries © 2009, Pearson Education

© 2009, Pearson Education

Why Has American Turnout Declined?

Puzzle: Why has turnout declined when developments have led us to expect an increase in turnout?

Voting Rights Act 24th Amendment Poll taxes and literacy tests abolished Shortened state and local residency requirements Simplified registration Bilingual ballots Easier absentee voting Socioeconomic changes So why the decline??????

© 2009, Pearson Education

Why Has American Turnout Declined?

Declining Personal Benefits Declining Mobilization Declining Social Connectedness – Compositional effect: an aggregate change that results from a change in the group’s composition, not from a change in the behavior of individuals in the group – Social connectedness: the degree to which individuals are integrated into society – families, churches, neighborhoods, groups, and so forth © 2009, Pearson Education

Who Votes and Who Doesn’t?

People differ in – Their ability to bear the costs of voting – The strength of their feeling civic duty – How often they are targets of mobilization Highly-educated people are more likely to vote than those without formal education – Whites tend to be more highly-educated Turnout increases with age until extreme old age reverses the trend In other countries, there is not the strong relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and turnout – Political parties more effective at mobilizing © 2009, Pearson Education

© 2009, Pearson Education

Is Low Turnout a Problem?

Three arguments say it is not – Conservative argument: High turnout related to strife and conflict. If relatively no conflict, we should expect low turnout – Elitist argument: Quality of electoral decisions is higher if a special effort is not made to increase turnout. On average, nonvoters are less educated than voters – Cynical argument: Elections are charades. Real decisions are made by elites. Voting is solely to placate the masses. So elections do not matter. There is very little evidence to support this argument © 2009, Pearson Education

Is Low Turnout a Problem?

Three arguments say it is – Voters are unrepresentative so elections are biased and thus public policies that are adopted are biased as well. Research says this argument is overstated. Why?

• Policy views and candidate preferences of voters and nonvoters appear to differ relatively little – Low turnout reflects phony politics because the party system does not address “real” issues of concern to people. Phony issues are flag burning, gun control, school prayer. Real issues are jobs, education, housing, healthcare – Lower turnout discourages individual development. Participation in democratic politics stimulates people to become better citizens and better human beings. So they take politics to a higher level.

© 2009, Pearson Education

Is Low Turnout a Problem?

What do you think? • Is low turnout a cause for concern? • a cause for despair?

© 2009, Pearson Education

© 2009, Pearson Education

Evaluating the Arguments

Authors’ view: nonvoters and voters have diverse motives – Some nonvoters are content; others alienated. The same goes for voters.

– High turnout can mean high approval of the political order or serious dissatisfaction with it – Nonvoters do not have much political information, but neither do voters. So raising turnout will not “dumb” down the electorate.

– Low turnout may make the actual electorate less representative than the potential electorate, but not as much as assumed Low turnout – cause for concern but not despair © 2009, Pearson Education

Beyond the Voting Booth

Citizens participate beyond the voting booth – Americans are more likely to work in campaigns, contact public officials, volunteer for work in their community – Contribute money to candidates, attend local board meetings, and engage in political protest So why are these means of participation sometimes more attractive than voting?

– Often for the same reasons that voter turnout is low: • frequency of elections; political culture; temporary activism, protests are a regular part of American politics © 2009, Pearson Education

© 2009, Pearson Education