Transcript Chapter 6: Voters and Voter Behaior

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
Chapter 6
Voters and Voter Behavior
Section 1
The Right to Vote

Main Idea:
 Democratic
government can succeed only if its citizens
are willing to vote. The history of the United States has
been marked by a steady expansion of the electorate
through the elimination of restrictions on voting
qualifications.
Section 1
The Right to Vote

Voting
 Suffrage/Franchise:
 1789:
The right to vote
Only white, male, property owners may vote
 1870s: 15th Amendment eliminated restrictions based on
race
 1920: 19th Amendment added women to the electorate
 1971: 26th Amendment dropped voting age to 18
 Today: The electorate (those eligible to vote) include nearly
all citizens 18+ years of age
Section 1
The Right to Vote

Study Questions 6.1:
1.
What two long-term trends mark the expansion of
the American electorate?
Section 2
Voter Qualifications

Main Idea:
 All
states have citizenship, residence, and age
requirements for voting. Other voting qualifications
differ from State to State. Some requirements –
especially those that were used to disenfranchise
certain groups – have been eliminated over time.
Section 2
Voter Qualifications

Qualifications
 States
determine voter qualifications
 All
require voters to be legal citizens and legal residents
 Most forbid transients

Transient: Person living in a state for only a short time
 Age

requirement set by 26th Amendment
Must be 18
Section 2
Voter Qualifications

Registration
 49
states require voter registration
 Gives


officials a list of registered voters, called poll books
Officials are to review these periodically and purge them
Purging: Removing names from those no longer eligible to vote
Section 2
Voter Qualifications

Restrictions?
 No
Literacy Test: Proof of ability to read or write
 No Poll tax: A tax paid for voting
 All states deny the right to vote to people in mental
institutions
 Most states deny the right to vote to people convicted
of a serious crime
Section 2
Voter Qualifications

Study Questions 6.2:
1.
2.
3.
List the three factors that all 50 states use to set voter
qualifications.
What is a literacy requirement for voting, and how
was it used to deny suffrage to certain groups?
What is a grandfather clause, and what was its
purpose with respect to literacy tests?
Section 3
Suffrage and Civil Rights

Main Idea:
 The 15th Amendment declared that the right to vote
cannot be denied on account of race.
Nevertheless, a variety of tactics were used in
Southern States to disenfranchise African
Americans. The Supreme Court struck down a
number of these efforts, and, beginning in the
1950s, Congress passed laws to protect minority
voting rights.
Section 3
Suffrage and Civil Rights

Discrimination
 1870,
15th Amendment said right to vote could not be
denied based on race
 Southern states used many tactics to deny African
Americans the right to vote
 Violence
 Threats
 Literacy
tests
 Gerrymandering: Drawing district lines that limits a
particular group’s political strength
Section 3
Suffrage and Civil Rights

Discrimination (cont.)
 Civil
Rights Movement pressured Congress to ensure
African American Voting rights
 Civil

Set up a commission to investigate voter discrimination
 Civil

Rights Act 1960
Set up federal referees to help eligible voters register and vote
in federal elections
 Civil

Rights Act 1957
Rights Act 1964
Emphasized injunctions (orders from courts to do or stop doing
something bad)
Section 3
Suffrage and Civil Rights

Study Questions 6.3:
1.
2.
What was the purpose of the 15th Amendment and
list three ways that some southern States tried to
circumvent the it.
Explain two key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of
1965.
Section 4
Voter Behavior

Main Idea:
 Low
voter turnout is a serious problem in this country.
Among those who do vote, sociological and
psychological factors work together to influence voter
behavior over time and in particular elections.
Section 4
Voter Behavior

Problems
 Millions
 Voter
of Americans who are qualified to vote, don’t
turn-out is low in presidential election years
 Even lower in off-year elections (congressional elections
held between presidential elections)
Section 4
Voter Behavior

Problems (cont.)
 Those
who choose not to vote lack a feeling of political
efficacy
 Efficacy:
 Political
Feeling that their vote will make a difference
socialization
 Process
by which people gain their political attitudes and
opinions


Sociological factors influence each person’s voting choices
Include: income, occupation, education, gender, age, religion,
ethnicity, region of residency, and family
Section 4
Voter Behavior

Problems (cont.)
 Gender
gap
 Measurable
differences between the electoral choices of
men and women
 Psychological
 Party



factors also affect voter behavior
identification
Loyalty to a political party
Straight ticket voting
 Voting only for members of your political party
Split-ticket voting
 Voting for candidates of both major parties
 Most often done by independents
Section 4
Voter Behavior

Study Questions 6.4:
1.
Explain how income, education, and age usually
affect party affiliation.