Political Participation Why Do People Vote?. Today Forms of political participation Explaining the...
Transcript of Political Participation Why Do People Vote?. Today Forms of political participation Explaining the...
Political Participation
Why Do People Vote?
Today Forms of political participation Explaining the individual decision
to vote or abstain
Start With Some Definitions . . . Political Efficacy Social Capital
Social capital flows from “civic engagement”
Specific forms of social capital: Norms of trust, reciprocity, and
connectedness Information Efficacy
Definition of “Participation” “acts that aim at influencing the
government, either by affecting the choice of government personnel or by affecting the choices made by government personnel” (Verba and Nie, 1972)
Influencing who gets elected
Voting Threshold activity (most people
who don’t vote don’t participate at all)
Voting as a threshold activity
People who vote
People who engagein other forms of
participation
Influencing who gets elected (campaign participation) Voting Threshold activity (most people who
don’t vote don’t participate at all) What if you want to do more? Or if you can’t vote??
Not a U.S. citizen Not yet 18 Convicted of a felony
Influencing who gets elected: Beyond Voting
Donating money Volunteering for a campaign Signs / buttons / bumper stickers / t-shirts Convincing your friends Attending a rally Registering people to vote Participating in caucuses / primaries
Influencing what they do once they’re in office Focus on causes or issues Groups
Rallies Boycotts Litigation
Individuals Writing letters/phoning/e-mailing Signs and bumper stickers Civil disobedience
Important things to remember Voting may be the single most
important act of political participation (why?) but
There are many, many other ways to participate, many of which are open to everyone (regardless of eligibility to vote)
Turning Now to Voting . . . First thing you need is the right to
vote Also called “the franchise”
History of the franchise Colonial era Early 1800s 1870: 15th Amendment, but . . .
Poll taxes Literacy tests
History of the franchise, cont. 1920: 19th Amendment extended right to
vote to women 1924: Snyder Act extended U.S. citizenship
to all Native Americans and brought them under the 15th Amendment
1961: 23rd Amendment gives D.C. residents right to vote for president
1964: 24th Amendment prohibited poll taxes
1971: 26th Amendment extended voting rights to everyone over 18
Who is still officially disenfranchised? Citizens under 18 Felons Resident aliens and illegal
immigrants
But among those who *can* vote, why do some choose not to?
Pre-1990s Scholarship Two camps
Rational choice theorists “Demographic predictor” researchers
Rational Choice Theory People have preferences Act to maximize those
preferences/utility Constrained by
Resources Information What other people do
Anthony Downs, “An Economic Theory of Democracy” (1957) People vote if (P*B) – C > 0 Benefit Discounted by Probability of
Getting Benefit Cost
Good theory, bad prediction “Predicts” that rational people never vote Possible “fix”
Focus on different benefits . . . Psychic benefits, “duty”
Turnout not always sensitive to changes in costs National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter
Act) of 1993) increased registration but not turnout
BUT what about effects of “same day registration”?
2004 Total Turnout Rates for Voting Eligible Population Minnesota: 77.21% Wisconsin: 76.19% Maine: 73.37%
Possible explanations:
Law High Turnout
LawCivic Culture
High Turnout
Other Camp Demographic people are able to predict
behavior based on characteristics Education SES Race Age
But, they don’t really explain why people vote (description rather than explanation)
So . . . One camp is developing
explanations that don’t do a good job of describing actual behavior
The other camp is developing descriptions but not bothering to explain the “why” question
Civic Voluntarism Model Henry Brady, Sidney Verba and
Kay Lehman Schlozman “Voice and Equality”
Civic Voluntarism Model Interest/Engagement Mobilization/Recruitment Resources
Interest/Engagement interest in politics political efficacy (“I can make a
difference, I can participate effectively”) sense of civic duty (“It’s my job as an
American to participate”) group consciousness (“As my community
goes, so go I”) party identification commitment to personal issues
What might affect interest/engagement?
Mobilization/Recruitment Being asked to participate What increases chances of
recruitment?
Resources Time Money “Civic skills”
Organizational skills Language skills Social adeptness
What increases resources?
Implications for Civic Voluntarism Model “Equal opportunity” not all that equal Importance of social capital and group
membership Importance of “political entrepreneurs”
– politicians and groups that mobilize people
Importance of childhood experiences (family life, education) in adult political behavior