POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

CHAPTER 6

vocabulary

• Activist• Conventional

participation• 15th amendment• Grandfather clause• Literacy test• Motor-voter law• 19th amendment• Poll tax• 24th amendment

• Registered voter• 26th amendment• Unconventional

participation• Voting Rights Act of

1965• White primary• “grass roots”• Cross-cutting

cleavages

KEY IDEAS

• The American Electorate has expanded through extended voting rights for minorities, women, and youth

• Voter turnout is the US is relatively low, and the difficult process of voter registration probably accounts for it

• There are many levels and forms of participation in the American political system

AMERICAN ELECTORATE• The constitution did

not give Congress the right to alter state regulations regarding Congressional Elections

• Control over the voting process has moved from state to federal control (reps by district, in even # years)

• Universal Manhood Suffrage(1830)

• 15th-race (1870)– Grandfather Clause(1915)– White Primaries(1944)– Black Voters Up

• Voting Rights Act of 1965(banned literacy tests)

• 24th – banned poll tax (1964)

• 19th-Gender (1920)– Female Voters Up

• 26th-18 and older (1971)– Youth turnout low

VOTER TURNOUT• Voter turnout in America stays consistently between 50-

60%WHY?• Decline in interest in elections• Less competitive parties• Difficult absentee voting process• Too many offices to vote for/too many elections

OTHER VIEWS• 1800’s fraud: “vote early and vote often” created

artificially high turnouts• Difficult registration process made it difficult of many to

vote• Apathy

VOTER TURNOUT CONT.• In US, only 2/3 of eligible voters register• In Europe, registration is automatic• 1993 motor-voter law allows people to register at

the RMV• In 2002, Congress passed HAVA(databases)• States with election day registration have higher

turnouts• Studies show that almost all the differences

between US and foreign turnout can be explained by– Party strength– Automatic registration– Compulsory voting laws

PARTICIPATION

• InactiveInactive:: 20% of population• Voting SpecialistsVoting Specialists: vote, but nothing else• Campaigners:Campaigners: vote, involved with

campaigns• Communalists:Communalists: non-partisan, active

locally• Parochials:Parochials: don’t vote, but contact

politicians on specific issues• Activists:Activists: 10% of population-participate in

all forms of government

WHO PARTICIPATES?

• Education: The more educated, the more likely to vote: why?

• Religious involvement: The more involved in religion, the more likely to vote: why?

• Race and Ethnicity: Whites have higher voting rates than Blacks and Latinos

• Age: the highest % of voters are 45 and above• Gender: In general, men and women vote at

about the same rate• Two-Party competition: The more competitive

an election, the higher the turnout (see 2004)

PARTICIPATION

• Although voting rates are down, other forms of participation are on the rise

CONVENTIONAL:– Persuasion, petitioning, $ contribution,

running for officeUNCONVENTIONAL:

– Protesting, civil disobedience, violenceAmericans elect more offices than those in Americans elect more offices than those in

most other countries. The difference in most other countries. The difference in voter turnout should be considered less voter turnout should be considered less embarrassing and more a result of the embarrassing and more a result of the systemsystem

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

1. Which of the following is the best explanation for low voter turnout in the United States?

a) more than half of all Americans are apathetic towards politics

b) The voting process is difficult to understand, and ballots are complicated

c) Most potential voters do not identify with a political party

d) The burden of registering falls on individual voterse) It is difficult for many voters to get enough information

about the candidates to vote with confidence

SAMPLE QUESTIONS2. The table to the right supports

which of the following conclusions about voter turnout from 1996-2000?

a) Voter turnout in the US, as a % of registered voters, was below 50%

b) Mandatory voting, as required by law in Australia, has no impact on voter turnout

c) Voters in the US are more likely to vote if they are registered

d) The main reason for not voting in the US is apathy

e) There is no more than a 5% difference between turnout as a whole than turnout among registered voters

TWO WAYS OF CALCULATING VOTER TURNOUT 1996-2001

TURNOUT AS A % OF VOTING-AGE POPULATION

TURNOUT AS A % OF REGISTERED VOTERS

BELGIUM 83.2 AUSTRALIA 95.2

DENMARK 83.1 BELGIUM 90.6

AUSTRALIA 77.7 DENMARK 86

SWEDEN 76.8 NEW ZEALAND 83.2

FINLAND 75.3 USA 63.4

GERMANY 74.6 JAPAN 62

USA 47.2 CANADA 61.2

SWITZERLAND 34.9 SWITZERLAND 43.2

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

3. All of the following were used to keep blacks from voting except

a) Segregation

b) Literacy tests

c) Poll taxes

d) Grandfather clauses

e) Intimidation and threats

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

4. Which of the following is most likely to vote?

a) A 65 year old African American high school graduate

b) A 35 year old white college educated woman

c) A 70 year old white college professor

d) A 40 year old hispanic with an associate’s degree

e) An 18 year old African American just starting college

SAMPLE QUESTIONS5. Which of the following make it difficult to compare voter turnout

rates in the 19th century with those today?I. In the 19th century they used printed ballots and today we use

the Australian BallotII. Fraud was more common back thenIII. Voters are now required to registerIV. IN the 19th century, political machines tried to control election

outcomesa) I and IIb) I, II, and IIIc) II and IIId) II, III, and IVe) I,II, III, and IV

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Free Response:Over time, voting rights have been expanded to

include groups previously excluded from the formal political process. For two of the groups below, explain how voting rights have been expanded and discuss the impact of these groups on the political process.

WomenAfrican AmericansVoters 18-21