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Political Participation

Political Participation. -is low voter turnout a reality -comparison of turnout statistics between countries -who has control of elections and it’s effect -what factors hold down voter turnout/participation - Nie and Verba’s six categories of political participation

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Political Participation

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  1. Political Participation -is low voter turnout a reality -comparison of turnout statistics between countries -who has control of elections and it’s effect -what factors hold down voter turnout/participation -Nie and Verba’ssixcategories of political participation -compare participation rates in various forms of political activity

  2. A closer look at non-voting: A. Alleged Problem: low turnout compared to Europeans -but this compares registered voters to eligible adult population *look at table on Pg. 130 in text B. Most common explanation: voter apathy on election day -but the real problem is low voter registration rates -maybe Americans are satisfied with the way things are? No sense of urgency? C. Proposed solution: get out the vote drives -Civil rights in 1960’s -but will this help with those who are not registered? D. Apathy is not the only cause of non-registration -costs here versus no costs in Europe- registration is automatic -Motor-voter law of 1993, took affect in 1995 *ex. pg. 131 E. Voting is not the only way of participating- Americans #1 -civic groups, writing letters, social movements, working for candidates, $ donations (least)

  3. The American Voter • Early on, exclusive voting requirements reduced the eligible voting adults to only 8% of the population in the first presidential election. • -excluded were women, slaves, property less, and non-Christian (in some cases) • Changes • From state to federal control • Initially states controlled nearly everything- property owners! • Leads to a wide variety in federal elections • Congress reduces state prerogatives • * 1842 law: House members elected by district • * Suffrage to blacks-15th • *Suffrage to women-19th • *Suffrage to 18 year olds-26th • *Direct election of US Senators-17th

  4. Black voting rights Fifteenth amendment gets gutted by the Supreme Court -just couldn’t discriminate based on race The South reacts: -literacy tests- until 1948, college grads in GB get 2 votes! -poll taxes -white primaries until 1944 -grandfather clauses until 1915 -intimidation of black voters- KKK Most of this changes with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Federal “poll watchers” if less than 50% of eligible voters vote in a presidential election

  5. Women’s Voting Rights Three pronged attack-amendment, court, state legislatures -Western states first to grant women right to vote- WY #1 -some European countries women still don’t have full voting rights- Switzerland -19th amendment ratified in 1920-Why then? Did not create any dramatic changes in outcomes of elections as predicted: women did not vote in blocks

  6. Youth Vote -Voting Rights Act of 1970 -26th Amendment ratified in 1971- Why? -low voter turnout -no particular party- greatest influence? -created no significant impact How about today? -is there more or less significance in the youth vote?

  7. Changes-cont’d B. Voting Turnout Debate over declining percentages: two theories -real decline as popular interest and party competition decrease -apparent decline induced in part by honest ballot counts of today *parties once printed ballots *ballots were cast in public *parties controlled the counting *today we use the Australian ballot system Most scholars see some real decline -registration is more difficult- Why? -continuing drop after 1960 cannot be explained apathy? -2008 election? Turn around? Why?

  8. Who Participates in Politics? Forms of Participation -voting is the commonest, but 8-10% misreport it! -Verba and Nie’s six forms of participation *inactives *voting specialists *campaigners *communalists *parochial participants *complete activists

  9. Causes of Participation, or lack thereof -those with schooling, or political information are more likely to vote -Church goers are more likely to vote (contact with like minded voters) -men and women vote at the same rate -Race * Black participation lower than that of Whites overall *But, controlling for SES (socioeconomic status), higher than Whites -level of trust in the government?- no correlation? -difficulty of registering, as turnout declines, registration gets easier. States with same day registration- slightly higher- 40% of non-registered say “too busy”

  10. Participation cont’d Small factors add up: more youths and minorities, decreasing effectiveness of parties, registration impediments, language barriers, feelings of elections do not matter, election season too long (GB Three weeks), too many elections Democrats and Republicans fight over solutions: -no one knows who would be helped by larger turn out -Nonvoters tend to be poor, minorities -Increasingly the percentage of college graduates are also not voting -why the apathy? -what will happen in 2012?

  11. What do Participation Rates Mean? Americans vote less, but participate more -other forms of activity are becoming more common -some forms more common here than in other countries Americans elect more officials than Europeans do and have more elections -voter burn out U.S. turnout rates heavily skewed to higher status - are we an elitist society?

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