chapter 6 individual participation © 2009, pearson education fiorina, peterson, johnson, and mayer...

Chapter 6Individual Participation

© 2009, Pearson Education

Fiorina, Peterson, Johnson, and MayerNew American Democracy, Sixth Edition


History of the Franchise

The Constitution on voting

Said little; voter eligibility left to the states. Most states limited the franchise

– white male property-owners; later eliminated

– Taxpayers. This restriction removed in 1850s

– A few states had religious restrictions

Not until the eve of the Civil War did the U.S. have universal white male suffrage


Voting Rights in the Amendment Process

Between the Civil War and 1971 a series of constitutional amendments expanded electoral access– The 15th Amendment (1870) extended the

franchise to black males, but many could not exercise this vote in parts of the South

– The Voting Rights Act (1965) reestablished federal oversight of southern elections


Voting Rights in the Amendment Process Women’s suffrage also slow process– Wyoming allowed women to vote in national

elections in 1890– Eleven other states gave women the right to

vote by 1916. Most were western states– In 1920 the 19th

Amendment gave allwomen the right to vote


The 23rd Amendment (1961)– Granted residents of Washington, D.C., the

right to vote for presidential electorsThe 26th Amendment (1971)– Guaranteed voting rights to those under 21

(Note that states could use a lower age limit if they chose.)

– Signed into law by NixonTrend: steady expansion of the voteConvicted felons are not eligible in many states– Falls heavily on African American males

Voting Rights in the Amendment Process


How Voting Rights Spread

Voting rights left up to separate states, which extended suffrage in different ways at different timesPolitics of voting expansion– Woodrow Wilson and women’s suffrage– His opponent supported it– Women could vote in the West– Wilson could not afford to surrender the West

to Hughes so he adopted a moderate stance on women’s suffrage

– Women’s suffrage began to look inevitable, so other politicians jumped on the bandwagon

France: 1945Switzerland: Last canton in 1990!


Why People ParticipateExtending suffrage does not automatically lead to increased voter turnout

Presidential elections– Half of the electorate stays home

Voting is costly – What are some of the costs?

But there are benefits, too– What are some of these?– Today, most of the benefits are psychological

• civic duty to vote

Voter mobilization can matter– Efforts of parties, groups, and activists to encourage

turnout


International Comparisons

Americans vote at much lower levels than people in most other countriesThe measurement of turnout varies– In the U.S, it is measured by:– Number of people voting for president/ number

of people in voting-age population• Formula lowers American turnout as much

as 5 percent relative to other countries


International Comparisons

Undervotes:

– Ballots that indicate no choice for an office, whether because the voter abstained or because the voter’s intention could not be determined

Overvotes: when you vote for more than one candidate

VAP: voting age population

─ Counting the entire VAP rather than the eligible VAP also lowers turnout figures


Personal Costs and Benefits: Registration

Other countries use a different denominator in their turnout calculations– Registered population

More than 30 percent of the American voting-age population has not registered

When U.S. voting is calculated this way, we move to the middle of turnout for industrial democracies

But registration is also automatic in most of the world – Motor Voter law – had little impact– Probably would not erase the participation gap


Personal Costs and Benefits: Compulsion

Some countries attach costs to nonvoting

Compulsory in some countries

– Australia and Belgium – fine nonvoters

– Greek electoral law provides for imprisonment of nonvoters for up to 12 months (rarely applied)

– Italy – no fine, but DID NOT VOTE is stamped on identification papers. People who don’t vote also have their names posted on community bulletin boards

Compulsion raises turnout by about 15 % more than in democracies without it


Other Personal Costs and Benefits

Elections traditionally held on TuesdaysOther countries hold them on Sundays or make the election day a holiday– Italian workers receive free train fare back to

their place of registrationIn the U.S., we vote many times during the course of a four year periodBeing registered to vote sometimes means being registered for jury duty


Mobilization and Turnout

American parties have declined as mobilizing agentsInterest groups act as mobilizing agents, but they are not as deeply rooted in American politicsOverall, weaker mobilization efforts depress turnout by about 10 to 15 percentTherefore, it costs more to vote in the U.S., and individuals receive less support for voting than do citizens in other countries


Why Has American Turnout Declined?

Puzzle: Why has turnout declined when developments have led us to expect an increase in turnout?

Voting Rights Act24th AmendmentPoll taxes and literacy tests abolishedShortened state and local residency requirementsSimplified registrationBilingual ballotsEasier absentee votingSocioeconomic changes

So why the decline??????


Why Has American Turnout Declined?

Declining Personal BenefitsDeclining MobilizationDeclining Social Connectedness– Compositional effect: an aggregate change

that results from a change in the group’s composition, not from a change in the behavior of individuals in the group

– Social connectedness: the degree to which individuals are integrated into society – families, churches, neighborhoods, groups, and so forth


Who Votes and Who Doesn’t?

People differ in – Their ability to bear the costs of voting– The strength of their feeling civic duty– How often they are targets of mobilization

Highly-educated people are more likely to vote than those without formal education– Whites tend to be more highly-educated

Turnout increases with age until extreme old age reverses the trendIn other countries, there is not the strong relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and turnout– Political parties more effective at mobilizing


Three arguments say it is not– Conservative argument: High turnout related

to strife and conflict. If relatively no conflict, we should expect low turnout

– Elitist argument: Quality of electoral decisions is higher if a special effort is not made to increase turnout. On average, nonvoters are less educated than voters

– Cynical argument: Elections are charades. Real decisions are made by elites. Voting is solely to placate the masses. So elections do not matter. There is very little evidence to support this argument

Is Low Turnout a Problem?


Three arguments say it is

– Voters are unrepresentative so elections are biased and thus public policies that are adopted are biased as well. Research says this argument is overstated. Why?

• Policy views and candidate preferences of voters and nonvoters appear to differ relatively little

– Low turnout reflects phony politics because the party system does not address “real” issues of concern to people. Phony issues are flag burning, gun control, school prayer. Real issues are jobs, education, housing, healthcare

– Lower turnout discourages individual development. Participation in democratic politics stimulates people to become better citizens and better human beings. So they take politics to a higher level.



What do you think? • Is low turnout a cause for concern? • a cause for despair?



Evaluating the Arguments

Authors’ view: nonvoters and voters have diverse motives

– Some nonvoters are content; others alienated. The same goes for voters.

– High turnout can mean high approval of the political order or serious dissatisfaction with it

– Nonvoters do not have much political information, but neither do voters. So raising turnout will not “dumb” down the electorate.

– Low turnout may make the actual electorate less representative than the potential electorate, but not as much as assumed

Low turnout – cause for concern but not despair


Beyond the Voting Booth

Citizens participate beyond the voting booth– Americans are more likely to work in

campaigns, contact public officials, volunteer for work in their community

– Contribute money to candidates, attend local board meetings, and engage in political protest

So why are these means of participation sometimes more attractive than voting?– Often for the same reasons that voter turnout

is low:• frequency of elections; political culture;

temporary activism, protests are a regular part of American politics

chapter 6 individual participation © 2009, pearson education fiorina, peterson, johnson, and mayer...

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