Political Participation

C H A P T E R 6 E L E N A H O W E R

A Closer Look at Nonvoting

    Some people believe that Americans do not vote because they are apathetic, but this is a misleading description of the problem because there is more to it. Let’s first look at the stats… Only 2/3 of the voting-age population is registered to vote 47.2 % of the voting-age population votes in America, but..

63.4% of registered voters in America actually do vote

But WHY don’t they vote?

 Apathy is not the main cause of the problem. Of the people registered, the majority vote.

 The real source of the problem in the United States is that a relatively low percent of the adult population is registered to vote.

So HOW do we fix this problem?

  We want to get more people registered to vote. Some people suggest “get-out-the-vote drives” but these are not necessarily the cure either. We must look at WHY people aren’t registered in order to address how we can register more Americans to vote.

There are two main reasons why people do not register to vote: 1. Apathy (may not care about politics) but the greater issue is 2. burden of registering (so we need to make registering to vote easier for Americans)

The Rise of the American Electorate

1. From State to Federal Control 2.Voter Turnout

From State to Federal Control

  Initially, the states decided who could vote and for what offices. This created many problems and confusion, so Congress has steadily reduced state prerogatives in these matters (ex: federal elections must be held in even-numbered years on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November).

The most important changes in elections have been those that extended the suffrage of women, African Americans, and 18-year-olds.

   Literacy Test: despite new legislation, poll workers still did not want blacks to vote, so they came up with ways such as “literacy tests” to keep blacks from voting (most former slaves were illiterate).

Poll Tax: another way to keep blacks from voting (most former slaves were poor) Grandfather Clause: in order to allow poor/illiterate whites to continue to vote, this said that a person could vote without meeting the above as long as he or his ancestors voted before 1867

Voter Turnout

   One idea why voter turnout is so low is a decline in popular interest in elections and a weakening of the competitiveness of the two major parties.

Another view is that the decline in voter turnout has been more apparent than real (because voting fraud was so easy to get away with before, compared to now) In order to cut back on vote buying and fraudulent vote counts, the states began adopting the Australian Ballot around 1890. This was a gov’t printed ballot of uniform shape and size that was cast in secret, created to replace the old party-printed ballots cast in public.

Who Participates in Politics?

1. Forms of Participation 2. The Causes of Participation 3. The Meaning of Participation Rates

Forms of Participation

 Voting (most common)  Donating to a candidate (least common)  Being a member of a political org. (least common)

6 Categories of Participation

 1. Completely Inactive (22%; don’t participate at all)  2. Activists (11%; participate in all forms of politics) Between these extremes are four categories of limited forms of participation:  3. Voting Specialists (vote but that is all)    4. Campaigners (vote and get involved in campaign activities) 5. Communalists (like campaigners but more nonpartisan) 6.Parochial Participants (don’t vote or deal with campaigns, but still contact local officials about issues)

The Causes of Participation

     Participation is higher among the college educated than those who are not Participation is higher among those who are over forty four years of age than among those who are under thirty five Religious involvement also increases political participation Men and women vote at about the same rate Whites are more likely to vote than blacks due to social class, but when comparing blacks and whites of the same socioeconomic status, blacks tend to participate more than whites

Other Small Causes of Participation

     1. Greater youthfulness of the population along with growing numbers amongst minorities, has lowered the percentage of voters who are registered and vote.

2. Political parties are no longer as effective in mobilizing voters, ensuring that they are registered and getting them to the polls, etc as they once were.

3. Registering to vote is still difficult/burdensome in many states.

4. If not voting is costless, then there will be more nonvoting.

5. Voting (and registering to vote) will go down if people do not feel that elections matter.

What do you think?

 In many European countries, registration is done for you. Should the United States do this?

 In many countries, such as Australia, fines can be levied on nonvoters. Should it be a law to vote? More arguments for/against this on page 147  Some countries make voting day a national holiday. Should we?

Summary

    We don’t all register to vote and even when registered, do not always vote.

Some reasons: apathy, age, race, party organization, barriers to registration, popular views regarding election importance, and level of education/socioeconomic status Compared to other nations, Americans vote at lower rates but more frequently and for more offices.

Also, we engage more frequently in non-electoral forms of participation