CH. 6-4 VOTER BEHAVIORAMERICAN GOVERNMENT

NONVOTERS “Your vote is your voice. Use it.” This is the advice of an organization called

Rock the Vote. (www.rockthevote.org) This organization encourages young people

aged 18-25 to participate in the election process

The word IDIOT came to our language from the Greek.

In ancient Athens, idiots (idiotes) were those citizens who did not vote or otherwise take part in public life

Tens of millions of Americans vote in all levels of elections every year.

Millions of Americans, for one reason or another, don’t vote

There are legitimate reasons for not voting. A troubling fact remains: most of the millions

of Americans who could—but do not –go to the polls cannot claim any of those reasons.

These people would have been called idiots by the Greeks of 2000 years ago.

THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEMS (table p. 165)—facts on non-voters in USA 2004—only 56.7% of voters participated in the

presidential election Off-year (non-presidential) elections have an even

lower percentage. Some people that do vote don’t vote for every race

on the ballot Example: you vote for president but you don’t vote

for representative, etc. “Nonvoting voters” are not limited to national

elections and they are more common in local elections.

“Ballot Fatigue”—the further down the ballot an office is, the less likely people will vote for it

WHY PEOPLE DO NOT VOTE The time it takes to vote is not a significant part

of the answer

“Cannot-Voters” Although it is true these people do not vote, the

fact is that they cannot do so. 2004—of the 95 million people that did not vote,

at least 10 million are resident aliens. They are barred from voting in every state.

5-6 million were so ill or otherwise physically disabled that they simply could not vote

2-3 million were traveling unexpectedly and could not vote

Other groups include some 500,000 persons in mental health care or under some form of legal restrain due to mental condition

More than 2 million adults in jails and prisons As many as 100,000 who do not (cannot) vote

because of religious beliefs (those who believe that acts such as voting amount to idolatry)

An unknown but significant number could not vote in 2004 because of 2 things:

1) the purposeful administration of election laws to keep them from voting

2) various “informal” local pressures applied to that same end.

ACTUAL NONVOTERS 2004--More than 80 million people who could

have voted did not A main reason was because they were not

convinced that is makes little real difference who wins a particular election

The group is divided into two subgroups #1) people that generally approve of the way

things are being run and no matter who wins, things will stay the same

#2) People that feel alienated. They don’t trust political institutions and processes

Another large group is composed of people who have no sense of POLITICAL EFFICACY (lack any feeling of influence or effectiveness in politics).

They do not believe they or their votes can have any real impact

OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING TURNOUT Cumbersome election procedures—inconvenient

registration procedures, long lines, long ballots, Bad weather

“Time Zone Fall-out”—people not voting in the western part of the country because the eastern polls had closed and news media was projecting a winner making western votes seem unimportant.

Chief cause for people not to vote is, purely and simply, a lack of interest

COMPARING VOTERS AND NON-VOTERS People most likely to vote display the following

characteristics: 1)Higher level of income, education, and occupational

status 2) well integrated into their community 3) long-time residents 4) strong sense of party identification 5) Believe voting is an important act 6) They live where laws, customs, and competition

promote turnout

Profile of people less likely to vote: 1) younger than 35 years old 2) unmarried 3) unskilled 4) likely to live in the South and in rural locales

Women are more likely to vote than men This has been apparent since the 1980s and was

reconfirmed in 2004 People with a high sense of political efficacy are

likely to vote-no matter what their age, income, education, race, etc.

VOTERS AND VOTING BEHAVIOR STUDYING VOTING BEHAVIOR 1. The results of particular elections Ballots are secret in the USA We can study areas with high concentrations

of a particular group (Catholics, African-Americans, etc.) to see how they voted in an election

2. The field of survey research Survey a specific cross section of people Public opinion polls like Gallup are done this

way 3. Study of Political Socialization (the process

by which people gain their political attitudes)

SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE VOTERS Sociological and psychological factors clearly

influence the way people vote.

INCOME, OCCUPATION Income—lower—Democrats; higher—

Republicans Occupation—professional and business

people—Republican; manual workers, etc.--Democrats

EDUCATION College graduates vote Republicans in higher

percentages than high school graduates do High School graduates vote for Republicans more than

people with only a grade school education

GENDER, AGE GENDER GAP—measureable differences between the

partisan choices of men and women. This first appeared in the 1980s Women tend to favor Democrats be a margin of 5 to

10 percent Men tend to favor the Republicans by a similar margin

Men and women tend to vote differently on issues such as abortion, health care, social welfare matters, or military abroad situations

Younger voters are more likely to be Democrats

Older voters tend to be more Republican

RELIGIOUS, ETHNIC BACKGROUND Historically Protestants have preferred the

Republicans Catholics and Jews have been much more

likely to be Democrats

Moral issues—in particular same-sex marriage—were unusually prominent in 2004.

Church attendance has been a significant indicator of party preference

People that go to church at least once per week voted for Mr. Bush in 2004

For decades African-Americans has been solidly for the Democrats

There are more than 40 million African-Americans and they are the second-largest minority group (Latinos have more than 42 million)

GEOGRAPHY Southern States (Confederacy) voted

consistently Democratic after the Civil War Republicans have been making good strides

toward getting votes in the South Democrats draw strength from big cities in

the North and East Republicans voters still dominate suburban

areas Voters is smaller cities and rural areas are

also likely to be Republicans

FAMILY AND OTHER GROUPS Members of a family vote in strikingly similar

ways 9 out of 10 married couples share the same

party As many as 2 out of 3 voters follow the

political party of their parents People who work together and socialize

together tend to share similar political ideas

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS Sociological factors are no more important the

psychological factors

PARTY IDENTIFICATION A majority of Americans identify themselves

with one of the major parties early in life PARTY IDENTIFICATION—loyalty of people to a

particular political party Single most significant and lasting predictor of

how a person will vote STRAIGHT-TICKET VOTING—voting for all

candidates of a particular party

Studies show that party identification has lost some of its impact recently.

One reason is the increase since 1960 in split-ticket voting

SPLIT-TICKET VOTING—voting for the candidates of more than one party in an election

Another indicator is the large number of people who call themselves INDEPENDENTS (people without party affiliation)

The loose nature of party membership makes it difficult to determine how many people are independent

The best guess is the independents are about ¼ to 1/3 of all voters today

Until recently, the typical independent was less concerned, less well informed, and less active in politics than voters who aligned themselves with a major party

Today’s independents tend to be young and above average in education, income, and job status.

CANDIDATES AND ISSUES Party identification is a long-term factor

Short-term factors tend to make people vote against the political party they support.

The impression a candidate makes on the voters can have an impact on the election

Issues have become increasingly important over the last 40 years or so.

Major issues of the time period are likely responsible for the heightened concern about issues in general

Examples: the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the feminist movement, the Watergate Scandal, economic issues

The End