Consider: What makes a person more likely to vote? The Last Word: Assignment 10 for Monday; quiz due date and MC test date TBA – likely Tuesday.

Unit 2: AP Gov

Patterns in Vote Choice  In terms of ideology, income, education, race/ethnicity, gender and religion…  Who is more likely to vote Republican?  Who is more likely to vote Democrat? Prospective vs. Retrospective judgment Which is more fair? Which should you use?

What factors make people more likely to vote?  Party ID - Who votes more: Dems or Reps?  Income and Education  Why has turnout declined as levels of schooling have increased?  Age - Older more likely than younger…why?  Religious involvement – the more, the more likely…  Gender – women slightly higher  Race = whites more than blacks  Unless at same socioeconomic level (blacks more)  **The Type of Election  Impediments to participation…  Registration requirements  No cost to not participating  Too busy

Voter turnout  We need to be careful when assessing turnout rates among various subgroups of voters.  Voting-eligible population – (VEP)  Most commonly, only those who meet qualifications of age and other laws (felony, for example  Voting-age population – (VAP)  Defined by the Bureau of the Census as everyone residing in the United States, age 18 and older.  sometimes lumped with the first group; but this includes people who (for various reasons) are not eligible to vote in a state  Registered voters –  a smaller number of only those who are signed up to vote

How do people decide?  Cross-pressures sometimes make voting difficult for people  Examples of pressures that might come from “opposite sides of the aisle” and make choosing a candidate difficult?

Voter Profile Quiz  For each of the descriptions that follow, determine:  A) Whether the person is a likely voter  B) What characteristics make them likely or unlikely to vote  C) If voting, which party they would be most likely to support  D) What current issues might be important to that person?

Voter Perspective 1  John is 46 year-old white male. He is an electrician who makes $85,000 a year, and has been a member of the Electrical Workers Union for approximately 20 years. He is very religious, attending a Lutheran church each week. He has been divorced for about 5 years, and has 3 children. He gets most of his news from newspapers and occasionally from NBC or CNN.

Voter Perspective 2  Maria is a Latino mother of 2 who just turned 35. She is a lawyer for a large law firm, and makes about $120,000 per year. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, a devout Catholic, and has been married for 5 years. She uses the Internet for her news, pays close attention to several blogs, and occasionally responds herself to the postings she reads.

Voter Perspective 3  Eric is a black male, and a recent college graduate from Penn State in the area of business administration. He is 24, single, and just moved to New York City. He is not religious, and spends a good deal of his free time following sports and spending time out and about in New York City.

Voter Perspective 4  Sophia is a 73 year-old white female, and a grandmother of 6. She is retired from a lifetime as a public school teacher, and receives both a pension and social security. She and her husband live in a retirement community in Vermont, and attend their Methodist church every Sunday. She listens to NPR and watches PBS in order to stay current with the news.