What do you know and think about the Government? Political Knowledge What do you know and think about the Government?

How Smart are you compared to the Rest of the Nation? How many Senators are in each state? What fraction of both houses of Congress is required to overturn a Presidential Veto? Name Georgia’s Senators Name our representative in District 6 of the US House Who is Theresa May and what position does she hold? Who is John G. Roberts and what position does he hold? 2 (60 percent of Americans) 2/3rds (32 percent of Americans) Issackson and Perdue (19 Percent of Americans) Tom Price (15 Percent) Prime Minister of GB (30 percent) Chief Justice of Supreme Court (11 percent of Americans)

What we do know According to 80 percent of the Polls, Americans DISTRUST our Government

Why do we Mistrust the Government Divided Government A situtation in which one party controls the White House and another party controls one or both Houses of Congress Heightened partisanship Decline of the middle (Moderates frozen out) Frustration with the governmental process Gridlock

Why do we Mistrust the Government Scandals High Cost of Elections Candidates must spend more time raising money Keeps good people from running for office Wasteful Spending

Mistrust in the Government Leads to… Low-Level of Political Efficacy We don’t believe that anyone we vote for, or anything we do will make a political difference Apathy We just don’t care Low Level of Political Efficacy and Apathy both lead to LOW VOTER TURNOUT!!!!

Types of Participation 2000 Election participation 82% watched the campaign on television 51% voted in the election 34% tried to influence others how to vote 10% put a sticker on their car 9% gave money to help a campaign 5% attended a political meeting 3% worked for a party or candidate

Who REALLY participates? Different factors can tell us who votes Education – MOST IMPORTANT, more education=more voting Income- More income you have, the more you vote Political Participation- The more you participate in other political activities, the more likely you are to vote Age – 18-24 is the lowest, and 45 and up is the highest

Voting Behavior Voting is the most common way to participate in Politics However, most people in America do not venture out to vote. 40 percent of the eligible adult population votes regularly 25 Percent are Occasional voters 35 Percent rarely or never vote This is far below the average for advanced industrial democracies

Other forms of Political Participation Joining a Campaign Donating money Running for Office Protesting

Voter Turnout Registered Voter turnout Eligible Voter turnout Voter Registration – blamed as one of the causes of low turnout “Motor-Voter” (1993) – National Voter Registration Act – allowed people to register to vote while they get license

Why are we Not Rocking the Vote? Too Busy 20 percent of Americans said they did not vote because they were too busy. Another 15 percent claimed to have been ill, disabled, or dealing with a family emergency Difficulty of Registration Motor Voter Act has helped this problem Number of Elections “Burnout”

Other reasons for low turnout Difficulty of Absentee Voting Number of Offices to Elect too high Weekday, non-holiday voting Weak political parties – less “get-out-the-vote campaigns

Fix The Problem Partner up with one or two students and talk about how we can fix the voting problem in America. You are in charge of the entire election process, what changes or new programs would you implement? Try to remember our Democratic Principles as you have the discussion…”Hold a gun to their heads and make them vote” will not be accepted