Chapter Seven
Political Participation: Activating the Popular Will
Major Concepts
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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political participation
suffrage
voter turnout
registration
apathy
civic duty
alienation
social capital
social (political) movements
Lecture Outline
The focus of this chapter is on political participation and its various forms. The author highlights
voting as the most common form of political activity, examining the impact of registration, civic
duty, party competition, socioeconomic status, and other important factors on voter turnout.
Differences in the extent of political participation are examined, and the effects of both
individual and systemic factors are analyzed.
The 2008 Democratic primary contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton attracted
voters, especially young ones, in numbers not seen since the 1970s.
I. Voter Participation
Suffrage—the right to vote—was largely restricted to white males for much of American history.
African American males were granted the right to vote in 1870 with the passage of the Fifteenth
Amendment, though effective barriers precluded many from fully exercising this right until the
1960s. Women were not guaranteed the right to vote in federal elections until 1920 with the
ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. Although voting laws are less restrictive today, voter
turnout in the United States is lower than other democracies. This pattern is due to a variety of
systemic factors.

Americans must personally register to vote, which puts an added burden on would-be
voters, thus contributing to lower turnout rates. The motor voter law increased
registration but not turnout.

Americans are asked to vote with a frequency that is unmatched anywhere else in the
Western world, which reduces the willingness to vote.

Another reason for low voter turnout is that many Americans see little difference between
the two major political parties. Perceived similarities between the parties makes voting
seem largely irrelevant. The absence of a major labor or socialist party in the U.S. system
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appears to undermine the political consciousness and participation of Americans with low
income and education.
Some Americans do vote more regularly than others.

American political culture is marked by a fairly widespread belief in voting as a civic
duty and a means to influence government. In recent years, there has been a decline in the
predominance of this belief, and a corresponding decrease in the number of regular voters
who regard voting as a civic responsibility.

Regular voters also tend to be more interested in government and politics. Apathy and
alienation undermine voting desire.

Regular voters are generally older than non-voters. Younger Americans are much less
likelier to vote than their older counterparts.

Regular voters tend to have a higher economic status. Barriers to voting such as personal
registration are more likely to discourage participation by individuals of low income and
education.
II. Conventional Forms of Participation Other Than Voting
There are other forms of political participation besides voting. Those which are within the
bounds of accepted, normal, or expected citizen behavior are considered conventional. There is a
distinct middle-class bias to conventional participation.

These forms include contributing money to campaigns, participating in community
activities, lobbying public officials, and joining political organizations.

Even though U.S. voter turnout is less than in most European countries, the level of other
forms of political participation, such as group involvement, is higher in the United States
than in other democracies.

Candidates such as Barack Obama and Howard Dean and websites such as MoveOn have
begun to tap the internet’s potential as a means of rallying citizens behind political causes
and movements, though what impact the internet will ultimately have on political
participation is a matter of debate.
III. Unconventional Activism: Social Movements and Protest Politics

Social or political movements are broad efforts by citizens to change policy whenever
they feel that government has been unresponsive to their interests.

Forms of political participation in which citizens attack, disrupt, or confront the regular
political process are termed as unconventional.
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
Americans tend to support conventional political activism (e.g., voting, contributing
money to campaigns, and writing senators) over unconventional activism (e.g., pickets
and marches). Despite the popular disapproval of unconventional behavior, such actions
have sometimes had a definite impact on government officials, changing their agenda and
policies.
IV. Participation and the Potential for Influence
The emphasis that the American culture places on individualism tends to discourage a sense of
urgency about political participation. Americans tend not to view their material well-being as
greatly dependent on collective political involvement.

Even though Americans are mainly concerned about personal matters, their votes can be
quite significant.
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Citizens can help to define the limits of public policies.
Less-affluent Americans may have different opinions compared to wealthier Americans,
yet they tend to be a relatively weak force in the nation’s political system.

American politics has a definite middle-class slant, reflecting the higher participation rate
of middle-class Americans, who, in general, tend to favor self-interested policies.
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