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Political Participation. Basic Terms. Suffrage = right to vote Enfranchise = give a group the right to vote Electorate = the people who vote Incumbent = someone who holds office. Voter Participation in America. Who Votes?. Race Average voter turnout by race: White: 66%
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Basic Terms • Suffrage = right to vote • Enfranchise = give a group the right to vote • Electorate = the people who vote • Incumbent = someone who holds office
Who Votes? • Race • Average voter turnout by race: • White: 66% • African American: 64% • Hispanic: 35% • Asian:31%
Voter Behavior • People tend to vote more when they are angry • Tea party movement gained ground because people were unhappy with the government
Voter Behavior • Joe voter bases his choice on: • Party affiliation (parties are losing their power though) • Educated guesses or gut feelings • Likeability of a presidential candidate • Specific policies rarely impact how a person will vote
Denied • How did states attempt to prevent minorities from voting? • Poll tax: many poor African Americans couldn’t afford to pay a fee to vote • Literacy requirements: inequalities in segregated schools meant many African Americans could not pass the tests • Grandfather Clause: exemption on literacy and property voting requirements for people whose families owned property prior to the Civil War
Barriers to the African American Vote • Limited opportunities to register to vote • Arrest and beatings by police • Threats of violence toward voter’s family and home • Personal information shared with groups like the KKK and employers • Unfair tests at the polls States and individual counties used many different methods to prevent African Americans from voting.
This poll test asks voters to correctly guess the number of cotton balls in a jar before they are allowed to vote. ? ? ? Other tests asked voters to guess the number of bubbles in a bar of soap!
Theliteracy test was one type of poll test that was given in some locations. Voters were tested on their reading skills. Like with the other tests, white voters always passed while African American voters usually failed.
Voting Requirements in the South 1) Read a section of the Constitution out loud. 2) Tell what the section says in your own words. 3) Write out another section of the Constitution. 4) Answer eight questions on the Constitution. Voters who could not prove a 5th grade education had to: 1) Complete a 30 question test 2) Finish the test in 10 minutes! Many African Americans in these states lacked a quality education, and the tests were meant to exclude blacks from the voting process.
Alabama Literacy Test Examples of Literacy Tests Louisiana Literacy Test
The Grandfather Clause stated that you only had the right to vote if your grandfather also had the right to vote.
The Poll Tax required voters to pay for the ability to vote. Most Southern African Americans were poor sharecroppers that were heavily in debt to landowners. $1.50 1932 = $23.00 Today
What changed?? • Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Johnson’s legacy to JFK)…changes gov’t approach to issue of equality (Civil Rights Act of 1964) • 24th amendment (1964)- ban poll taxes • Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Bans literacy tests)
What explains this trend? The Voting Rights Act of 1965!
How does this tie to Federalism??? • States rights were used as justification to resist the federal governments intervention in civil rights.
Motor voter laws • The National Voter Registration Act (“Motor Voter”) of 1996 • Allowed voter registration at DMV or by mail. • Immediate impact: • voter registration rose while turnout declined • Grown since then.
Polling review • How might polling effect lawmakers? • How might intensity make a difference? • How might re-election bids make a difference? • What might be some limitations of using this data for lawmakers (think about what their job)
