1. Political Participation
Nonvoting
Rise of the American Electorate

2. Voter Turnout Voter turnout can be measured in two different ways:
(1) Proportion of the registered voters that actually voted in a given election
(2) Percentage of the eligible voters (voting age population) that vote

3. Voter Turnout
According to recent figures, American statistics look much better if the first method is employed (percentage of registered voters who participate in elections)

4. Voter Turnout
If we take the proportion/percentage of the registered voters, between 75-80% voted in recent presidential elections

5. Voter Turnout
If we take the percentage of the voting-age population, only about 50% actually voted
Figure is much lower than most other democracies

6. Voter Turnout
Great Britain, Canada—about ¾ of all eligible voters vote in major elections
Italy, Australia—90% of eligible voters vote

7. Voter Turnout: U.S. Main problem is voter registration
Challenge: Increasing the number of eligible/voting age population registered to vote

8. Rise of the American Electorate
Originally the Constitution let individual states determine the qualifications for voting
States varied widely in their laws

9. Rise of the American Electorate
All states:
Excluded women
Most denied blacks voting rights
Property ownership was usually required

10. Expanding Suffrage Expansion of the right to vote resulted from:
(1) Constitutional amendment
(2) Changing federal statutes
(3) Supreme Court decisions

11. Lifting of Property Restrictions
At first, all states required voters to be property owners
Varying standards for how much property a man had to own to merit the right to vote

12. Lifting of Property Restrictions
During the 1830s when Andrew Jackson was president, most states loosened their property requirements to embrace universal manhood suffrage

13. Lifting of Property Restrictions
By the end of Jackson’s presidency ( ), most states had lifted property restrictions from their voting rights
NJ—property restrictions were not abolished until 1844

14. Suffrage for Black Americans & Former Slaves
After the Civil War three (3) important amendments intended to protect civil rights for newly freed former slaves were added to the Constitution

15. Suffrage for Black Americans & Former Slaves
Last of the three was added in 1870—15th Amendment
“Right of citizens of the U.S. to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

16. Suffrage for Black Americans & Former Slaves
Reading those words today, one would assume that they gave African Americans the right to vote

17. Suffrage for Black Americans & Former Slaves
That is not what the Supreme Court during the 1870s thought they meant
By a series of decisions, it held that the 15th Amendment did not necessarily confer the right to vote on anybody

18. Suffrage for Black Americans & Former Slaves
It merely asserted that if someone was denied that right, the denial could not be explicitly on the grounds of race
And the burden of proving that it was race fell on the black who was turned away at the polls

19. Suffrage for Black Americans & Former Slaves
This interpretation opened the door to several state strategies to keep blacks from voting

20. Suffrage for Black Americans & Former Slaves
Despite the amendment, many states passed Jim Crow laws:
Literacy tests, poll taxes, and the grandfather clause
Prevented blacks from voting until well past the mid-20th century

21. Suffrage for Black Americans & Former Slaves
During the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, the Supreme Court declared various Jim Crow laws unconstitutional

22. Suffrage for Black Americans & Former Slaves
Voting Rights Act of 1965 & other federal laws prohibit states from using discriminatory practices, such as literacy tests

23. Women’s Suffrage
In contrast to black Americans, until the early 20th century women were kept from the polls by law more than intimidation

24. Women’s Suffrage
An aggressive women’s suffrage movement began before the Civil War, but it brought no national results until social attitudes toward women changed during the Progressive Movement of the early 20th century

25. Women’s Suffrage Result was the passage of the 19th Amendment
Extended the vote to women in 1920
19th Amendment doubled the size of the electorate

26. 18-21-Year-Olds
A final major expansion of voting rights occurred in 1971 with the passage of the 26th Amendment
Changed the minimum voting age from 21 to 18

27. 18-21-Year-Olds
A few states (Georgia, Kentucky, Alaska, Hawaii) had allowed younger people to vote before 1971
Increased political activism of young people, particularly on college campuses during the 1960s, inspired this expansion of voting rights