1. Voter Behavior
Chapter 6
Section 4

2. Key Terms Off-Year Election Ballot Fatigue Political Efficacy
Political Socialization
Gender Gap
Party Identification
Straight Ticket Voting
Split Ticket Voting
Independent

3. Nonvoting Term idiot is Greek for non-voter
Millions of Americans do not vote
Election day 2008 some 121 million votes were cast
Only 53% of electorate voted
Off-Year Elections-the congressional elections held in the even numbered years between the presidential elections

4. Some people do not vote for all the candidates
Ballot fatigue- the further your name is down on a ballot the fewer votes you receive
Sometimes voters exhaust their patience or knowledge
More people vote for statewide offices instead of county or local elections

5. Turn out in congressional districts is higher in presidential years.

6. Why People Do Not Vote 2008 data 100 million people did not vote
10 million of them are aliens and are barred from voting
5 to 6 million are ill
2 to 3 million had top travel unexpectedly
Race, religious biases also play a role

7. Actual Nonvoters
In 2008, 80 million people who could vote did not in the Presidential election
Reasons
People think there vote will nor make a difference
Many do not trust politicians
They either fear or scorn the system
Political efficacy-lacking any feeling of influence or effectiveness in politics

8. More reasons
Cumbersome election process (inconvenient registration process)
Long ballots/long lines at the polling places
Bad weather
Time-zone fallout (polls in the East and central close before the west) results are forecast before they have voted

9. Comparing Voters and Nonvoters
1.Results of particular elections
Individual votes are secret
Areas largely populated by African Americans or Catholics or high income groups will indicate how they voted
2. Survey Research
Scientific polls determine cross sections of population (Gallup/Pew)
Measure public opinion

10. 3. Political Socialization-process by which people gain their political attitude and opinions
Begins in early childhood
Continues throughout your life
Experiences and relationships that lead people to see the political world in a certain way

11. Factors that Influence Voters
Sociological and psychological factors
Sociological- pieces of the voters social and economic life (two kinds)
1. a voters personal characteristics-age, race, income, occupation, education, religion
2. voters group affiliations- family- coworkers, friends
Psychological- study of the mind and individual behavior
Voter perception- how the voter sees the party, candidate and the issues of the election

12. The differences between the two are not great.
Closely related to each other
Constantly interact
How voters look at parties, candidates or issues is often shaped by their own social and economic backgrounds

13. Sociological Factors
College graduates are more likely to vote Republican
So are persons over 50
African Americans more likely to vote for Democrats
So are labor unions
How would a 55 year old college-educated African American who belongs to the AFL-CIO vote?

14. Income and Occupation
Voters in lower income brackets usually vote for Democrats
Voters in higher income usually vote for Republicans
2008 election was the exception
Making under $50,000 (Barack Obama)
$50,000 and up evenly divided between the two
Won 52% of the vote of those who made over $200,000 (Barack Obama)

15. Often how much someone earns and what they do for a living are closely related
Professional and business people
Other high incomes regularly tend to the Republican side
Manual workers
and lower income workers tend to the Democrat side
With the exception of 1964 and 2008 professional and business people voted heavily Republican in every modern era election

16. Education
College graduates high percentage Republican voters than those who graduate high school
High school graduates vote more Republican than those who just finished grade school
Except for 2008

17. Gender, Age
Gender Gap- the difference in partisan choices between men and women
First appeared in the 1980’s
Women generally tend to favor Democrats by a ten percent margin
Men often give the GOP the same margin

18. Traditionally younger voters tend to vote for the Democrats
Older voters for the GOP
Men and women vote differently on health care, abortion, other social matters
Democrats won a large majority of voters under 30

19. This pattern was broken by Ronald Reagan in 1984 and George Bush in 1988
Bill Clinton restored the Democratic claim in 1992
2008 held the tradition for younger voters garnering 66% of the under 30 vote

20. Religious, Ethnic Background
Protestants preferred GOP
Catholics and Jews the Democrats
2008 election supported that trend
African American voters for decades have supported the Democratic party
They form the only group that has given a clear majority in every presidential election since 1952

21. In the North, African Americans voted Republicans until the 1930’s (New Deal)
Civil rights movement 1960’s much greater African American participation in southern politics
Today African Americans are overwhelmingly Democratic

22. Geography
South East corner of the country became known as the solid South (Democrats)
The GOP now carries that area
States that consistently support Republicans
Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas
Democrats carry
Have made inroads into the Northeast section

23. Republicans still dominate the suburbs, smaller cities and rural areas

24. Family and Other Group
Family members vote in a strikingly familiar way
9 out of 10 married couples share the same partisan leaning
Those who work together and circles of friends vote alike

25. Psychological Factors
Party identification- the loyalty of people to a particular political party.
The single most significant and lasting predictor of how a person will vote
Democrat or Republican will likely vote for all their parties candidates
Democrats draw strength from big cities of the North and East and Pacific Coast

26. Straight ticket voting- the practice of voting for all the candidates of only one party in elections
Party identification is a key factor in politics
Though it has lost some of its power recently
Split ticket- the practice of voting for candidates of more than one party
This behavior began to increase in the 1960’s

27. Independents- those people who do not have a party affiliation
Independent is a tricky term most vote for a candidate of one of the major parties.
Number of independents is between a fourth and one third of all voters
New breed of independent from the 1960’s and 1970’s
New voters preferred not to be identified by party.

28. Candidates and Issues Party identification is a long term factor
They may support the candidates but not the way they vote
Short term factors can cause voters to switch sides
Impression the candidate make
Their image
Personal character and appearance

29. Issues have become important over the last 40 years
Civil rights movement, Viet Nam War, feminist movement, Watergate scandal, economic problems
Recent years- severe economic recession, Iraq and Afghanistan