1. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
CHAPTER 6

2. vocabulary Activist Conventional participation 15th amendment
Grandfather clause
Literacy test
Motor-voter law
19th amendment
Poll tax
24th amendment
Registered voter
26th amendment
Unconventional participation
Voting Rights Act of 1965
White primary
“grass roots”
Cross-cutting cleavages

3. KEY IDEAS
The American Electorate has expanded through extended voting rights for minorities, women, and youth
Voter turnout is the US is relatively low, and the difficult process of voter registration probably accounts for it
There are many levels and forms of participation in the American political system

4. AMERICAN ELECTORATE
The constitution did not give Congress the right to alter state regulations regarding Congressional Elections
Control over the voting process has moved from state to federal control (reps by district, in even # years)
Universal Manhood Suffrage(1830)
15th-race (1870)
Grandfather Clause(1915)
White Primaries(1944)
Black Voters Up
Voting Rights Act of 1965(banned literacy tests)
24th – banned poll tax (1964)
19th-Gender (1920)
Female Voters Up
26th-18 and older (1971)
Youth turnout low

5. VOTER TURNOUT
Voter turnout in America stays consistently between 50-60%
WHY?
Decline in interest in elections
Less competitive parties
Difficult absentee voting process
Too many offices to vote for/too many elections
OTHER VIEWS
1800’s fraud: “vote early and vote often” created artificially high turnouts
Difficult registration process made it difficult of many to vote
Apathy

6. VOTER TURNOUT CONT. In US, only 2/3 of eligible voters register
In Europe, registration is automatic
1993 motor-voter law allows people to register at the RMV
In 2002, Congress passed HAVA(databases)
States with election day registration have higher turnouts
Studies show that almost all the differences between US and foreign turnout can be explained by
Party strength
Automatic registration
Compulsory voting laws

7. PARTICIPATION Inactive: 20% of population
Voting Specialists: vote, but nothing else
Campaigners: vote, involved with campaigns
Communalists: non-partisan, active locally
Parochials: don’t vote, but contact politicians on specific issues
Activists: 10% of population-participate in all forms of government

8. WHO PARTICIPATES?
Education: The more educated, the more likely to vote: why?
Religious involvement: The more involved in religion, the more likely to vote: why?
Race and Ethnicity: Whites have higher voting rates than Blacks and Latinos
Age: the highest % of voters are 45 and above
Gender: In general, men and women vote at about the same rate
Two-Party competition: The more competitive an election, the higher the turnout (see 2004)

9. PARTICIPATION
Although voting rates are down, other forms of participation are on the rise
CONVENTIONAL:
Persuasion, petitioning, $ contribution, running for office
UNCONVENTIONAL:
Protesting, civil disobedience, violence
Americans elect more offices than those in most other countries. The difference in voter turnout should be considered less embarrassing and more a result of the system

10. SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Which of the following is the best explanation for low voter turnout in the United States?
a) more than half of all Americans are apathetic towards politics
The voting process is difficult to understand, and ballots are complicated
Most potential voters do not identify with a political party
The burden of registering falls on individual voters
It is difficult for many voters to get enough information about the candidates to vote with confidence

11. SAMPLE QUESTIONS
The table to the right supports which of the following conclusions about voter turnout from ?
Voter turnout in the US, as a % of registered voters, was below 50%
Mandatory voting, as required by law in Australia, has no impact on voter turnout
Voters in the US are more likely to vote if they are registered
The main reason for not voting in the US is apathy
There is no more than a 5% difference between turnout as a whole than turnout among registered voters
TWO WAYS OF CALCULATING VOTER TURNOUT
TURNOUT AS A % OF VOTING-AGE POPULATION
TURNOUT AS A % OF REGISTERED VOTERS
BELGIUM
83.2
AUSTRALIA
95.2
DENMARK
83.1
90.6
77.7 86
SWEDEN
76.8
NEW ZEALAND
FINLAND
75.3
USA
63.4
GERMANY
74.6
JAPAN 62
47.2
CANADA
61.2
SWITZERLAND
34.9
43.2

12. SAMPLE QUESTIONS
All of the following were used to keep blacks from voting except
Segregation
Literacy tests
Poll taxes
Grandfather clauses
Intimidation and threats

13. SAMPLE QUESTIONS 4. Which of the following is most likely to vote?
A 65 year old African American high school graduate
A 35 year old white college educated woman
A 70 year old white college professor
A 40 year old hispanic with an associate’s degree
An 18 year old African American just starting college

14. SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Which of the following make it difficult to compare voter turnout rates in the 19th century with those today?
In the 19th century they used printed ballots and today we use the Australian Ballot
Fraud was more common back then
Voters are now required to register
IN the 19th century, political machines tried to control election outcomes
I and II
I, II, and III
II and III
II, III, and IV
I,II, III, and IV

15. SAMPLE QUESTIONS Free Response:
Over time, voting rights have been expanded to include groups previously excluded from the formal political process. For two of the groups below, explain how voting rights have been expanded and discuss the impact of these groups on the political process.
Women
African Americans
Voters 18-21