Chapter 8 Key Concepts: Political Participation
Suffrage – The right to vote.
Voter registration – System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have
established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents.
Voting Age Population (VAP) — Citizens who are old enough to vote.
Voting-Eligible Population (VEP) — Citizens who are old enough to vote AND are not disqualified due to
mental incapacity or felony record. A subset of VAP. “Registered” voters will be an even smaller subset.
Motor Voter Law – (a/k/a the National Voter Registration Act of 1993) Requires that people be allowed to
register to vote when they get/renew their driver’s license or apply for social services. Registration via mail
also accepted.
Disenfranchisement — Denying someone the right to vote. Permissible grounds: too young, mentally
incapacitated, imprisoned for committing certain felonies. Impermissible grounds:
Grandfather clause – This exempted people from certain voter eligibility requirements if their
ancestors had the right to vote before the Civil War. It was a way to have high barriers that only
whites could cross. Outlawed in Guinn v. U.S. (1915).
Literacy test – A test of a person’s ability to read and knowledge of certain historical events.
The tests were designed to disenfranchise certain groups, like blacks. Banned by the Voting
Rights Act of 1965.
Poll tax – A payment of money required as a condition of voting. It was another means of
disenfranchising certain groups. Made illegal in federal elections by the 24th Amendment; made
illegal in state elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966).
White primary – A primary in which only whites could vote. Smith v. Allwright (1944) held this
to be unconstitutional.
Gerrymandering — Redrawing electoral boundaries to favor a particular group. Permissible if
done to favor a party; impermissible if done to hurt a racial minority. Technically not
disenfranchising, but can used to minimize impact of a vote.
Packing — Putting many voters for the other party into one district so as to maximize your party’s chances
of winning races in adjacent districts.
Cracking — Splitting voters for the other party into several districts to dilute their impact.
Constitutional amendments affecting voting –
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15th (slaves)
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19th (women)
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23rd (residents of Washington, DC)
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24th (poll taxes)
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26th (18 year-olds)
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Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Made discrimination in voter registration (among other things) illegal. Another
of the gradual increase of federal control over elections at the expense of state control.
Voting Rights Act of 1965 – prohibited discrimination in voting against someone on the basis of race or
color. Included (among other things) the “preclearance requirement.”
Preclearance requirement – Requires specified states (including Alabama) to obtain clearance from the
Dep’t of Justice before making any changes in the voting procedures. USSC struck this down in summer of
2013, saying that Congress would need to apply it to every State if it still wanted a preclearance
requirement.
Political efficacy – Believing that your actions can help shape policies.
Political participation – Voting the #1 way people choose to participate. Other ways to do so include
writing letters to or calling politicians, campaigning, running for office, contributing $ to candidates, etc.
Who votes – educated, rich, older people, women, union members, political activists. 18-24 year-olds are
least likely to vote of any age group.
• Education is seen by many as the strongest predictor of whether you vote.
• Your party affiliation is the #1 predictor of how you’ll vote (so, for instance, if you register as a
Republican, you’re very likely to vote for the Republican candidates).
Why people don’t vote – Negative campaigns, too many elections, lack of party identification, mistrust in
gov’t, apathy, lack of political efficacy, voter registration difficulties, weekday/non-holiday voting, decline
of political parties and their get-out-the-vote efforts.
Turnout rates – Rate at which registered voters vote. While lower than in the 19th century, actual turnout
may not be that much lower; there may have been more things like ballot-box stuffing and other
irregularities back then. The use of the Australian ballot has helped the accuracy of the vote.
Australian ballot – A ballot printed by the state and to be cast in secret. Designed to reduce voter fraud.
Has 4 main components: (1) printed at government’s expense; (2) all names in the race are on the ballot;
(3) ballot is handed out at the polls; and (4) it is filled out in secret.
Straight ticket – Voting for all of the candidates from the same party.
Ticket splitting – Voting for candidates from different parties when multiple offices are being contested
during the same election.
Significance of low turnout rates – Some say they don’t matter. May just reflect satisfaction with the
status quo, or perhaps a reflection of how many elections we have. Others see this as a source of concern.
Six types of citizens –
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Inactives; rarely vote or otherwise get involved in politics. Typical groups: poorly educated;
young; poor.
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Voting specialists: vote but no other participation. Poor; older.
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Campaigners: Vote and get involved in campaigns. Better educated; stronger identification with
a party.
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Communalists: Nonpartisan community activists with a local focus.
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Parochial participants: Don’t vote or campaign, but do contact politician about particular issue.
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Activists: Participate in all forms of political activity. Highly educated; high income; middleaged.
Party identification – An informal and subjective affiliation with a political party that most people acquire
in childhood.
Candidate appeal – How voters feel about a candidate’s background, personality, leadership ability, and
other personal qualities.
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