AP U.S. Government & Politics
Mr. Oglesby
Chapter 8
Political Participation
Vocabulary Terms
Voting age population
Literacy test
White primary
Activists
15th Amendment
26th Amendment
Voting eligible population
Poll tax
Motor-Voter Law
Voting Rights Act of 1970
19th Amendment
Suffrage
Registered voters
Grandfather clause
Australian ballot
Voter apathy
Parochial participants
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Important Questions
1. What are some ways in which voter turnout can be calculated? How can calculation decisions impact
the impressions one has regarding both voting and overall levels of political participation?
2. What are the major factors that appear to hold down the level of voter turnout in the United States?
What sort of program might you design if you wanted to overcome some of these problems and thus
increase voter turnout?
3. What category do you fall into on the Nie and Verba’s six-way classification of political participants?
Are you comfortable with the category in which you find yourself now? Why or why not?
4. What might explain the fact that Americans are increasing their participation rates in a wide variety of
forms, but not necessarily voting more often?