Chapter 8 Outline
CHAPTER 8
Political Participation
Objectives
This chapter reviews the much-discussed low voter turnout and the poor percentage of other forms of political participation in the United States. After reading and reviewing the material in this chapter, the student should be able to do each of the following:
1. Explain why the text believes that the description, the analysis, and many of the proposed remedies for low voter-turnout rates in the United States are generally off base.
2. Compare the ways that turnout statistics are tabulated for the United States and for other countries, and explain the significance of these differences.
3. Describe how control of the elections has shifted from the states to the federal government, and explain what effect this shift has had on blacks, women, and youth.
4. State both sides of the debate over whether voter turnout has declined over the past century, and describe those factors that tend to hold down voter turnout in the United States.
5. Discuss those factors that appear to be associated with high or low political participation.
Overview
The popular view that Americans do not vote because of apathy is not quite right. It would be much closer to the truth to state that Americans don’t register to vote—but once registered, Americans vote at about the same rate as citizens in other nations. Many other factors—having nothing to do with apathy—also shape participation rates. These include age, race, party organization, barriers to registration, and popular views about the significance of elections.
The most powerful determinants of participation are schooling and information, and the next most powerful is age. Race makes a difference, but black participation rates approximate white rates when controls are in place for socio-economic status.
Compared with citizens of other nations, Americans vote at lower rates, but more frequently and for many more offices. For these reasons, elections make a bigger difference in the
Political Participation
Objectives
This chapter reviews the much-discussed low voter turnout and the poor percentage of other forms of political participation in the United States. After reading and reviewing the material in this chapter, the student should be able to do each of the following:
1. Explain why the text believes that the description, the analysis, and many of the proposed remedies for low voter-turnout rates in the United States are generally off base.
2. Compare the ways that turnout statistics are tabulated for the United States and for other countries, and explain the significance of these differences.
3. Describe how control of the elections has shifted from the states to the federal government, and explain what effect this shift has had on blacks, women, and youth.
4. State both sides of the debate over whether voter turnout has declined over the past century, and describe those factors that tend to hold down voter turnout in the United States.
5. Discuss those factors that appear to be associated with high or low political participation.
Overview
The popular view that Americans do not vote because of apathy is not quite right. It would be much closer to the truth to state that Americans don’t register to vote—but once registered, Americans vote at about the same rate as citizens in other nations. Many other factors—having nothing to do with apathy—also shape participation rates. These include age, race, party organization, barriers to registration, and popular views about the significance of elections.
The most powerful determinants of participation are schooling and information, and the next most powerful is age. Race makes a difference, but black participation rates approximate white rates when controls are in place for socio-economic status.
Compared with citizens of other nations, Americans vote at lower rates, but more frequently and for many more offices. For these reasons, elections make a bigger difference in the