Transcript The Right to Vote

The Right to Vote
The Right to Vote
• Suffrage & Franchise- The right to vote
• What portion of the population originally had the
right to vote in our country?
• Since that time, the electorate, has continually
grown to over 220 million people.
• The history of American suffrage has been
defined by two trends: 1)the gradual elimination
of restrictions on the right to vote, and 2)the
gradual change in hands of the determining who
has suffrage from the States to the Federal govt.
Extending Suffrage
• The elimination of restrictions on the right to vote
has come in 5 distinct stages:
1. The elimination of religious and property
restrictions. 1800-1850
2. The elimination of race restrictions (15th
Amendment). 1870
3. The elimination of gender restrictions (19th
Amendment). 1920
4. The elimination of systematic denial of suffrage
based of race (Voting Rights Act 1965 and 24th
Amendment). 1960’s
5. The admission of those who are 18 or older as
voting citizens (26th Amendment). 1971
Power to Set Suffrage Qualifications
• The right to set suffrage qualifications is reserved to
the states, however, the Constitution sets 5
restrictions on that reserved power.
1. States must allow all voters to vote in all elections
2. 15th Amendment- “No state can deprive a person the
right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude.
3. 19th Amendment- “No state can deprive a person the
right to vote based on the account of sex.”
4. 24th Amendment- No state may institute a tax in
connection with the election of the Pres, Vp, or
Congress.
5. 26th Amendment- “No state can deprive any person
who is at least 18 the right to vote based on age.”
Suffrage & Civil Rights
• Which Amendment extended suffrage to African
Americans?
• 15th Amendment (1870)
• Was this Amendment effective?
• For about 90 years, the Federal Government did
little to ensure the constitutionally granted African
American right to vote.
• African Americans were generally and systematically
denied suffrage through many mediums.
Suffrage & Civil Rights
• The most common medium used to prevent
African American voting was violence.
• Tactics such as threats and social pressures also
helped limit African Americans from casting their
vote.
• Other “legal” devices were used such as literacy
tests and Gerrymandering.
• The practice of drawing electoral district lines in order
to limit the voting strength of a particular group or
party.
Suffrage & Civil Rights
Suffrage & Civil Rights
• Civil Rights Activists, such as Martin Luther King Jr. began
to draw attention to the civil rights movement and African
American suffrage.
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
-Outlawed any discriminatory measure in voter registrations or
literacy tests.
-Relied on an injunction- the violation of an injunction is punishable
by fine and imprisonment. (not effective).
-i.e. Selma, Alabama voter registration march.
• Civil Rights Act of 1965
-Most effective civil rights legislation to date.
1. Suspended Literacy Tests and similar devices
2. Appointed Federal voting examiners.
3. Gave Federal voting examiners the power to register voters in
their appointed district.
Voters and Voting Behavior
• Most of what we know about voting behavior comes
from 3 main sources:
1. The Results of particular elections – B studying the
election returns of particular election populated by
different groups, we can find out how each group
voted in a given election.
2. The field of Survey Research – scientifically polling
cross sections of the public to find out certain public
opinion on candidates and issues. (Gallup Polls)
3. Studies of Political Socialization – Studying the
experiences and relationships that determine
how/why people participate in politics the way that
they do.
Factors that Influence Voters
• The two main factors that influence the way that
people vote are
• 1) Sociological and 2) Psychological factors.
• The Sociological factors that influence voters are
their personal characteristics and group
affiliations.
• The Psychological factors that influence voters
are personal perceptions of politics (in general),
parties, candidates, and issues.
• These two influence factors are closely related
and constantly interact with one another.
Sociological Factors
• Income/Occupation – Traditionally we can draw these
assumptions: High Income = Republican, Low Income =
Democrat. White collar = Republican. Blue Collar =
Democrat.
• Education – Trends show that the more education you
receive, the more likely you are to be Republican.
• Gender/Age – Traditionally, women are more likely to be
democrats, males are more likely to be republicans (this is
known as the gender-gap). Young voters are more likely to
be democrats, while older voters are more likely to be
republicans.
• Religion/Ethnicity- Protestants= Republican, Jews &
Catholics= democrats. African Americans and Latinos favor
Democratic Party candidates.
Sociological Factors (cont)
• Geography:
• Family and Other Groups: 9/10 married couples
vote in the similar ways. Children most often
follow the political attachments of their parents.
Psychological factors
• Party Identification: the loyalty of people to a
particular party, is the single most significant
and lasting predictor of how a person will vote.
• A trend away from party identification in recent
years has grown to create more split-ticket
voting.
• Overall, Independents are generally much less
concerned with politics.
• However, recently a new breed of independents
have been formed – young, highly educated,
and employed voters.