1. Political Participation
AP Government
Unit 6

2. Political Participation
“Actions undertaken by ordinary citizens that are intended, directly or indirectly, to influence the selection of government personnel and/or the policy decisions they make”

3. What is considered political participation?
Acts aimed at influencing policy, including:
voting
protesting
letter-writing
volunteering for a party or interest group

4. Most common form of participation--
Least common form of participation

5. Top 10 Types of Political Participation
Voting
Affiliated w/ Political Organization
3. Contacting a public official
4. Attend meetings of organizations
5. Campaign contributions
6. Informal community activity
7. Attend local board meeting
8. Campaign work
9. Protest
10. Board membership

6. All Forms of Political Participation

7. Historically, Who Voted and When??
Who made up the first group of Americans that had the right to vote?

8. Historically, Who Voted and When??
Who was the first group of Americans to have the right to vote?
White, male, landowners were generally the only voters until 1828 and the election of Andrew Jackson
FYI, states decided who to add to electorate and when to add them NOT federal government

9. Historically, Who Voted and When??
Do you know when other groups were added to the electorate??
Hint: Most are Voting Rights Amendments

10. The Expansion of Voting Rights
1870 African American males given franchise to vote
The 15th Amendment extended voting rights to African-Americans in 1870
However, for many years AFTER ratification intimidation and Jim Crow laws took away the power of the amendment.
It took many years and many struggles to overcome legal strategies such as literacy test, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses.

11. The Expansion of Voting Rights
1920 Women receive franchise
Women received the vote nationwide in 1920 after the 19th Amendment was ratified and immediately voted in large numbers without intimidation.
However, there was no immediate change in elections or election results or policy changes
1924 Native Americans receive franchise
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 declares all non-citizen Native Americans born in the USA to be citizens with the right to vote.

12. The Expansion of Voting Rights
1963 Residents of DC given franchise
23rd Amendment ratified in 1963
1964 Removal of Poll Tax
Poll taxes “required citizens to pay a fee to register to vote”.
These fees kept many poor African Americans, as well as poor whites, from voting. This was removed in 1964 with the 24th Amendment
1965: The Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act prohibits any election practice that denies the right to vote to citizens on the basis of race and forces jurisdictions with histories of voter discrimination to submit any changes to its election laws to the government for federal approval prior to taking effect.

14. The Expansion of Voting Rights
year-olds given franchise
The 26th Amendment was ratified in 1971, extending the franchise
This did not have any noticeable effect on elections.
1990 Americans with Disabilities Act
The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act ensures that election workers and polling sites provide a variety of services designed to ensure the possibility of persons with disabilities to vote.
1993: The National Voter Registration Act
Required states to permit mail-in registration, and make registration services available at DMVs, unemployment offices, and other state agencies.

15. Why Don’t Americans Vote?
Long and complex ballots (Institutional reason)
Confusing to voters
Legal barriers (Institutional reasons)
Some groups were not allowed to vote in the past. Race, gender, age are examples: The 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th Amendments fixed many legal barriers
Photo ID Rules in some states (Institutional reason)

16. Why Don’t Americans Vote?
3. Other Legal Requirements
Age Requirements (Institutional reason)
Citizenship Requirements (Institutional reason)
Citizens with felonies (Institutional reason)
4. Many states still do not have easy universal voter registration. (Institutional reason)

17. Why Don’t Americans Vote?
The population has a greater percentage of young people and minorities who are less likely to vote.
Political parties do not mobilize voters; to many they are distant national bureaucracies.
Voting itself still requires effort (cost) without any cost for nonvoting.

18. Why Don’t Americans Vote?
8. People are poorly informed 9.Disaffection
Elections are determined by money and special interest support
Loss of trust in government
Alienation
10. Because many elections are not close and some voters feel it’s not necessary

19. Any hypotheses out there???
So…Who DOES Vote?
Any hypotheses out there???
You need 10!

20. So…Who DOES Vote? 1. Education
The higher the level the higher the participation. They tend to pay more attention to current affairs and events are much more likely to understand how it works and how it may apply to them.
2. Income
People with higher incomes have a higher tendency to vote.
3. Age
Older people tend to vote more often than younger people (less than half of eligible year olds are registered to vote).

21. So…Who DOES Vote? 4. Gender
Women vote at a slightly higher rate than men, but this varies. However, since 1980, women have a higher tendency to vote for Democrats than Republicans.
5. Race
In general, whites tend to vote more regularly than African-American, but blacks with high income and education vote more than whites of the same SES. Overall, Asian-Americans vote at a lower rate than blacks or whites.

22. So…Who DOES Vote? Parental participation
If your parents vote, you will likely vote
Occupation
White collar professionals vote more than blue collar workers/laborers
Religion
Those who attend church regularly vote more often than occasional or non-church goers
Exposure to media
Those who read and watch the news vote more often

23. Neighborhood Associations
So…Who DOES Vote?
10. People who are affiliated with certain organizations
What do they do??
Attend meetings
Give money
Take political stand
Political Parties
Civic Clubs
Charitable Groups
Business Groups
Educational Groups
Hobby Groups
Neighborhood Associations
Cultural Groups
Unions
Religious Groups
Seniors
Youth Groups

24. Fact: Americans are less likely to vote than are Europeans.
Why????

25. Fact: Americans are less likely to vote than are Europeans.
Why?
1. Too many offices to fill
The United States has an almost bewildering number of elective offices, an estimated 521,000 positions.
Voters' enthusiasm for elections is surely deflated by the sheer volume of names with which them must familiarize themselves.
In Europe, in contrast, each voter generally is confronted with only one or two offices to fill per election, so that electoral decisions do not impose a burden upon the voter.
Even in Europe, however, voter apathy increases with the number of elections.
It seems too much democracy, in terms of either selecting government offices or making policy, is exhausting

26. Fact: Americans are less likely to vote than are Europeans.
Why?
2. Voting procedures are not mandatory
It is common in other countries for voting to be compulsory by law and for registration to be carried out automatically by the government.
Mandatory voting would probably fail to survive a constitutional challenge in this country on First Amendment grounds; just as people have a right not to speak (like refusing to salute the flag), it would seem to follow that they have a right to refrain from voting-a form of speech-as well.

27. Fact: Americans are less likely to vote than are Europeans.
Why?
3. Voting procedures are too complicated
Americans must register BEFORE Election Day in most states
Americans must re-register every time they move states
Americans must notify election boards if they move within a state
The Motor-Voter Act is a federal law that mandates that all states offer to register all citizens over 18 when they get or renew their driver’s license.

28. Fact: Americans are more likely to participate in other ways than are Europeans.
Although American voter turnout has decreased over the past twenty years, it seems that other forms of participation, such as writing letters to public officials and engaging in demonstrations, have increased.
Compared to citizens of other democracies, Americans vote less but engage more in other forms of political participation.

29. Read Chapter 12!!!
“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference and undernourishment.
-Robert Hutchins