1 / 21

Political Participation

Political Participation. AP Government Unit 5. What is considered political participation?. Acts aimed at influencing policy, including: voting protesting letter-writing volunteering for a party or interest group. Most common form of participation Voting

vashon
Download Presentation

Political Participation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Political Participation AP Government Unit 5

  2. What is considered political participation? Acts aimed at influencing policy, including: voting protesting letter-writing volunteering for a party or interest group

  3. Most common form of participation • Voting • Affiliated w/ Political Organization 3. Contacting a public official 4. Attend meetings of organizations 5. Campaign contributions 6. Informal community activity 7. Attend local board meeting 8. Campaign work 9. Protest 10. Board membership Least common form of participation

  4. Why Don’t Americans Vote? • Long and complex ballots • Confusing to voters (I) • People are poorly informed • Disaffection • Elections are determined by money and special interest support • Loss of trust in government • Alienation • Legal barriers (I) • Some groups were not allowed to vote • Today: Photo ID Rules (I) • Through the 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26thAmendments fixed many legal barriers

  5. Why Don’t Americans Vote? 5. Other Legal Requirements • Age Requirements (I) • Citizenship Requirements (I) • Because many electionsare not close and some voters feel it’s not necessary • The population has a greater percentage of young people and minorities who are less likely to vote. • Political parties do not mobilize voters; to many they are distant national bureaucracies. • Some states still do not have easy universal voter registration. (I) • Voting itself still requires effort (cost) without any cost for nonvoting.

  6. Why DON’T Americans VOTE? • The population has a greater percentage of young people and minorities who are less likely to vote. • Political parties do not mobilize voters; they are distant national bureaucracies. • Some states still do not have easy universal voter registration. (I) • Voting itself still requires effort (cost) without any cost for nonvoting. I-Institutional Barriers that are governmental in nature or Constitution-based

  7. Why DON’T Americans VOTE? 6. Long and complex ballots and confusing to voters 7. People are poorly informed 8. Disaffection • Elections are determined by money and special interest support • Loss of trust in government • Alienation 9. Legal barriers • Some groups were not allowed to vote • 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th Amendments fixed this

  8. So…Who DOES Vote? 1. Education The higher the level the higher the participation. They tend to pay more attention to current affairs and events are much more likely to understand how it works and how it may apply to them. 2. Income People with higher incomes have a higher tendency to vote. 3. Age Older people tend to vote more often than younger people (less than half of eligible 18-24 year olds are registered to vote). 4. Gender Women vote at a slightly higher rate than men, but this varies. However, since 1980, women have a higher tendency to vote for Democrats than Republicans. 5. Race In general, whites tend to vote more regularly than African-American, but blacks with high income and education vote more than whites of the same SES. Overall, Asian-Americans vote at a lower rate than blacks or whites.

  9. So…Who DOES Vote? Parental participation If your parents vote, you will likely vote Occupation White collar professionals vote more than blue collar workers/laborers Religion Those who attend church regularly vote more often than occasional or non-church goers Exposure to media Those who read and watch the news vote more often

  10. So…Who DOES Vote? 10. People who are affiliated with certain organizations • What do they do?? • Attend meetings • Give money • Take political stand • Political Parties • Civic Clubs • Charitable Groups • Business Groups • Educational Groups • Hobby Groups • Neighborhood Associations • Cultural Groups • Unions • Religious Groups • Seniors • Youth Groups

  11. Historically, Who Voted and When?? • Who was the first group of Americans to have the right to vote? • Do you know when other groups were added to the electorate??

  12. Historically, Who Voted and When?? • Who was the first group of Americans to have the right to vote? • White, male, landowners were generally the only voters until 1828 • FYI, states decided who to add to electorate and when to add them NOT federal government • Do you know when other groups were added to the electorate?? • Generally through federal amendments or laws but some states also broadened the electorate

  13. The Voting Rights Amendments • African American males- • The 15th Amendment extended voting rights to African-Americans in 1870 • Because of intimidation and Jim Crow laws, it took many years and many struggles to overcome legal strategies such as literacy test, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses. • These efforts did not bear fruit until the 1965 Voting Rights Act increased federal supervision and criminal penalties • Women • Women received the vote nationwide in 1920 after the 19th Amendment was ratified and immediately voted in large numbers without intimidation. • However, there was no immediate change in elections or election results or policy changes • Residents of DC • 23rd Amendment ratified in 1963 • Poll Tax • Not removed until 1964 • 24th Amendment • 18-19-20-year-olds • The 26th Amendment was ratified in 1971, extending the franchise • This did not have any noticeable effect on elections.

  14. The youngest voters have the lowest participation in presidential elections Source: Current Population Survey (CPS), November Supplement, calculated using CIRCLE method.

  15. Fact:Americans are less likely to vote than are Europeans. • Why? • 1. Too many offices to fill • The United States has an almost bewildering number of elective offices, an estimated 521,000 positions. • Voters' enthusiasm for elections is surely deflated by the sheer volume of names with which them must familiarize themselves. • In Europe, in contrast, each voter generally is confronted with only one or two offices to fill per election, so that electoral decisions do not impose a burden upon the voter. • Even in Europe, however, voter apathy increases with the number of elections. It seems too much democracy, in terms of either selecting government offices or making policy, is exhausting

  16. Fact:Americans are less likely to vote than are Europeans. • Why? • 2. Voting procedures are not mandatory • It is common in other countries for voting to be compulsory by law and for registration to be carried out automatically by the government. Mandatory voting would probably fail to survive a constitutional challenge in this country on First Amendment grounds; just as people have a right not to speak (like refusing to salute the flag), it would seem to follow that they have a right to refrain from voting-a form of speech-as well.

  17. Fact:Americans are less likely to vote than are Europeans. • Why? • 3. Voting procedures are too complicated • Americans must register BEFORE Election Day in most states • Americans must re-register every time they move states • Americans must notify election boards if they move within a state The Motor-Voter Act is a federal law that mandates that all states offer to register all citizens over 18 when they get or renew their driver’s license.

  18. Fact:Americans are more likely to participate in other ways than are Europeans. • Although American voter turnout has decreased over the past twenty years, it seems thatother forms of participation, such as writing letters to public officials and engaging in demonstrations, have increased. • Compared to citizens of other democracies, Americans vote less but engage more in other forms of political participation.

  19. Lack of Civic Understanding John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Survey 112,003 high school students in 2004 • On 1998 National Civics Tests (NAEP) • Only 23% of 4th graders were proficient • Only 23% of 8th graders were proficient • Only 26% of 12th graders were proficient • 36% believed that newspapers should get “government approval” of stories before publishing • Less than 50% of 15-26 years old think that communicating with elected officials, volunteering, or donating money to help others are qualities of a good citizen

  20. 80% 70% 70% 59% 56% 60% 49% 50% 41% 40% 36% 40% 29% 30% 20% 10% 0% DotNets GenX Boomers Matures Most people look out for themselves Most people would take advantage of you Decline in Political Participation The youngest generation of voters has the greatest distrust of others Source: The Civic and Political Health of the Nation, A Generational Portrait, 2002.

  21. Read Chapter 13 and 14!!! “The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference and undernourishment. -Robert Hutchins

More Related