What affects why we vote and how involved we get? LESSON 5 Voting Behavior, Public Opinion & Media Influence

How do we typically participate in the electoral process? AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTICIPATION 2008 TYPE OF INVOLVEMENT % Watched campaign on TV 86 Voted in the election 78 Tried to influence how others voted 45 Read magazine articles on the campaign 28 Wore a button or put a sticker on a car 18 Gave money to help a campaign 13 Attended a political meeting or rally 9 Worked for a party or a candidate 4

Who participates and why? I.DEMOGRAPHICS OF AVERAGE VOTERS □ EDUCATION: The more educated individual tends to be more likely to vote □ AGE: Participation greater among population over age of 35 □ RACE & ETHNICITY: Whites participate at higher rate  not that important when factoring in income level and education

How has voting eligibility changed throughout American history? II.VOTING RIGHTS & ELIGIBILITY A.Original electorate (1789): Only white property- owners could vote  28% of population B.Age of Jackson (1828)  Push for universal manhood suffrage  All states dropped property requirements by 1852 C.African Americans  15 th AMENDMENT (1870): Black men received right to vote  “JIM CROW” LAWS: Southern states circumvented 15 th Amendment  poll taxes, grandfather clauses, literacy tests

How has voting eligibility changed throughout American history? D.Women  States in West first gave women right to vote  19 th AMENDMENT (1920): Gave women right to vote on federal level E.Voting among the young  Before Vietnam War  voting age typically 21 in most states  26 th AMENDMENT (1971): Expanded suffrage to 18-year-olds  increased activism led to change

What official limits exist on a person’s right to vote? III.VOTER ELIGIBILITY Citizenship: Most states prohibit noncitizens voting rights Residency: Usual requirement is to live within state for 10 to 30 days Registration: Strict processes to prevent voter fraud NOT ALLOWED  mentally ill, convicted felons, homeless, dishonorable discharges

What can explain why people don’t bother to show up at the polls? IV. LOW VOTER TURNOUT: Issues hindering people from voting A. VOTER APATHY: People simply don’t care about the result B. LACK OF POLITICAL EFFICACY: People fail to believe their one vote will make a difference

What can explain why people don’t bother to show up at the polls? C. REGISTRATION PROCESS: Strict process prevents voter fraud, but also complicates registration D.OTHER BARRIERS  Voting on weekdays  Weak party efforts  Voter satisfaction  Weather

What, then, influences our right to vote? V.FACTORS INFLUENCING VOTING  Candidate appeal: Voting for a person, not a party  more important as electronic media grows  Party identification: Single most important predictor of who people will vote for  Issues: Voters’ choices affected by candidates’ stands regarding key points  economy usually heads list

How do individuals form their political opinions? VI.FORMATION OF PUBLIC OPINION A. POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION: The process of learning about values, beliefs, and processes that underlie a political system □ Begins early in life □ Continues throughout adulthood □ Biggest factor  parents (“dinner table conversation”)

How do individuals form their political opinions? B. Agents of political socialization: What helps us form our political opinions □ Family  most high school seniors identify with same political party as parents □ School and education in civics □ Religious belief □ Peer groups □ Gender and ethnicity □ Influence of news media  varies with how much we read, watch television, or surf the Internet C. Historical events also play a role in forming our views of the government and politics in general

How do individuals form their political opinions? D. PUBLIC OPINION: The sum of many individual opinions about a public person or issue 1.Achieved through polling of large numbers of people 2.Shaped by various factors □ Special interest groups □ Journalists, politicians, and other opinion makers □ What politicians say it is 3.Not one simple form of a public opinion  nation too large and diverse

How do individuals form their political opinions? E.Public opinion serves government in three key ways 1.Guides leaders as they create public policy (laws) 2.Serves as a guard against poor or hasty decisions by leaders 3.Helps hold society together by creating consensus (agreement) among various groups

How do we use polls to measure public opinion? VII.MEASURING PUBLIC OPINION A. OPINION POLLS: A series of questions that provide a sample of public opinion on particular issues  systems have improved during modern age of politics 1. STRAW POLL: Informal survey of opinion by show of hands or preferences  not very accurate 2. SCIENTIFIC SAMPLING: The process of selecting a small group of people who are representative of the whole population  format of the modern opinion poll (Gallup Poll) 3.Widely used as a means of gathering information about public sentiment

How do we use polls to measure public opinion? B.Modern day opinion polls □ Random samples involving 500 to 1500 respondents □ Conducted by telephone, though some now are collected through the internet □ Margin of error: Percentage indicator of how reliable poll is  smaller plus-minus number shows close