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American Government 4/e Thomas E. Patterson | |||||
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American Government 4/e Thomas E. Patterson | |||||
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CHAPTER OUTLINE
Introduction
Control of Congress at stake in 1998 election
More than three times as many people did not vote as did
Nonvoters tend to favor Democrats
Voting: A form of political participation (activities that influence policy/leaders)
Participation: "A measure of how fully democratic a society is"
The chapter’s main points:
Voter turnout is U.S. elections is low in comparison to other democracies
Only a small proportion of Americans are political activists
Most Americans distinguish sharply between their personal lives and national life
Voter Participation
Suffrage—the right to vote—originally restricted to property-owning white males
Not until 1840 were all propertyless white males given vote
Women finally were allowed to vote in 1920 (see Susan B. Anthony)
African Americans had suffrage but were often kept from voting
In 1964 the 24th Amendment outlawed the poll tax
Voting Rights Act of 1965 swept away other barriers
Factors in Voter Turnout: The United States in Comparative Perspective
Voter turnout—"proportion of persons of voting age who actually vote" in elections
Since 1960s, turnout level in presidential elections has not reached 60 percent
Midterm election turnout: Not more than 40 percent since 1970
Great disparity in turnout between U.S. vs. other nations
Registration Requirements—to prevent fraud originally, but now retards turnout
Some states make it relatively difficult for citizens to qualify
Legal residency (30–50 days) requirement a problem
Maine, Minnesota, Oregon—allow election-day registration
Another reason: Officials fear political change if new voters register
"Motor voter" law designed to make registration more convenient
Frequency of Elections—makes voting burdensome (many contests, primaries)
Party Differences—U.S. voters see few distinctions, unlike Europeans
Why Some Americans Vote and Others Do Not
Feelings of Civic Duty, Apathy, and Alienation
High degree of trust in government increases turnout
Apathetic voters have no interest in politics or voting
Alienation—disillusioned voters not likely to participate
Age—Young people (under age of thirty) have low turnout rate
Education—College-educated 40 percent more likely to vote
Best single predictor of voter turnout
Education generates greater interest in politics
However, alienation/declining party loyalties offset increased education
Economic Class—very poor one-third less likely to vote
European working class votes more due to class-based parties/unions
Poor people will vote (New Deal era) but not today (25 percent drop since 1960)
The Impact of the Vote
Elections do not usually produce a mandate for policies/issues
Prospective voting—"forward looking"
Retrospective voting—based on past performance
Economic conditions are key
Conventional Forms of Participation Other Than Voting
Campaign Activities—one in twenty Americans worked for a party or candidate in past year
Campaign participation higher in U.S. than in Europe—more opportunity
Federalism allows individual multiple chances
Community Activities—Tradition in America; a third of Americans vs. 15 percent in Europe
Lobbying Group Activities—support of/membership in lobbying organizations
Following Politics in the News—95 percent of U.S. homes have TV; 50 percent receive daily newspaper
Yet only about one-third of Americans consistently follow politics
Most Americans get most of their news through television
U.S. news audience has been shrinking in size (drop in newspaper circulation)
Many young people are ignoring the news, although Internet has great potential as source of political information and means of participation
The Middle-Class Bias of Conventional Participation
Citizens who work on campaigns: older, wealthier, educated, sense of civic duty
Neuman: only one in twenty Americans is actively involved
Unconventional Activism: Social Movements and Protest Politics
Elections: "a means by which the government controls the people"
Social or political movements—efforts to achieve change by citizens who consider government nonresponsive
Protests—government has responded violently to dissent (Kent State)
Most people believe in voting, not protesting
Protesters tend to be younger, emphasize nonmaterial values
Participation and the Potential for Influence
Individualism and Collective Action
Sharp distinction between personal lives and national life
Americans prefer market justice over political justice (health care system)
Political Participation and Socioeconomic Status
Citizens of lower economic status are less involved politically
Lower-income Americans today have opinion gap vs. upper-income people
Middle-class Americans turned against Clinton health plans (increase their costs)
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