Aim:
What effect has expansion of voting
rights had on voter participation?
I. Nonvoting
A. About only half of Americans vote
B. The U.S. is ranked near the bottom in
comparison to other democratic nations
in voter turnout
1. If one counts only registered voters in the
U.S., we are in the middle
2. A low percentage of Americans are
registered to vote
II. Voting Rights
A. In the early Republic, only white, male,
citizens, over the age of 21, who were property
holders could vote
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Property requirements were eliminated during the
Jacksonian Era
– Americans voted directly only for members of the House
15th Amendment (1870): Expanded voting rights to include
African American males
1. African Americans were still excluded through the use of:
Poll Tax: a requirement that citizens had to pay a tax in order to
register to vote
Literacy Test: a requirement that citizens show that they can
read before registering to vote
White Primary: practice of keeping blacks from voting in
Southern state primaries through arbitrary use of registration
requirements and intimidation
Grandfather Clause: allowed people to vote who did not meet
registration requirements to bypass the literacy test and poll tax if
their grandfathers had voted prior to 1867 (whites)
C. 17th Amendment (1913): Provided for direct election of
senators
- Previously Senators were elected by state legislatures
D. 19th Amendment (1920): Granted women the right to
vote
E. Native American Citizenship Act (1924): Granted
Native Americans citizenship and the right to vote.
1. some states continued to restrict Native American
voting rights until 1957
F. 24th Amendment (1964): Ended the use of poll taxes.
G. Voting Rights Act (1965): Ended the Use of Literacy
Tests
H. Voting Rights Act (1970): Extended the ban on literacy
tests for five years (renewed in 1975, 1982, and 2006).
Granted 18 year olds the right to vote in Federal
Elections.
I. 26th Amendment (1971): Granted voting rights to 18 year
old citizens.
Questions:
1. Based on what we have seen, explain
the meaning of this statement:
“Democracy is a process.”
2. What do you see for the future of voting
rights in this country? Should or could
these rights be expanded further, should
they remain the same, or should they be
restricted? Explain.
In the past…
• Voting rates in the 19th Century were 7080%
• Why???
Possible Reasons People voted
more in the past:
• Parties were better at mobilizing people
• Parties had stricter divisions and people
were more loyal to their parties
• Voter Fraud: Parties printed ballots,
people voted more than once, ballot boxes
were stuffed, party bosses controlled vote
counting
• Australian Ballot: A uniform, secret ballot
that limited fraud in elections
Today:
• Only about half of Americans who are eligible vote.
• About 22% are Inactive: low education, low income,
relatively young
• Activists: 11% of the population. High education, high
income, middle aged. – also called Political Elites
• Voting Specialists: Vote, but do little else.
• Campaigners: vote and get involved in campaign
activities: Better educated than the average voter, and
take pleasure in being involved in the political world
• Communalists: Similar to campaigners, but do not like
the competitive world of politics. Tend to focus on
community issues that are nonpartisan.
• Parochial Participants: Stay out of campaigns, and do
not vote, but may contact officials regarding personal
problems.
Possible Reasons for Nonvoting:
1. Youthfulness of population with growing
numbers of minorities
2. Parties less effective in mobilizing people
3. Difficulties registering
4. Not voting is costless
5. Negative view of the importance of
elections and the importance of a single
vote – low political efficacy
Other reasons for low turnout
•
•
•
•
Difficulty of Absentee Voting
Number of Offices to Elect too high
Weekday, non-holiday voting
Weak political parties – less “get-out-thevote campaigns
Many are unable to vote
• 10 million are resident aliens
• 5-6 million are ill or physically unable to
vote
• 2-3 million traveling suddenly
• 500,000 mentally ill
• 1 million in prison
• 100,000 don’t vote for religious reasons
• Internal Efficacy – the ability to
understand and take part in political affairs
• External Efficacy – the ability to make the
system respond to the citizenry.
• Political efficacy has declined steadily
since the 1960s.
• Why???
I. Registering
A. the burden to register to vote falls on the people
1. Process is a hassle
B. Motor-Voter Bill (1993) – states must allow
voter registration when applying for driver’s
licenses and provide registration through
the mail.
– Encouraged more registration
II. Participation
In what other ways can people participate?
A. joining civic associations, supporting
social movements, writing to legislators,
and fighting city hall
1. The level of participation of Americans in
these activities is quite high
Does our high rate of
nonvoters mean that people
are apathetic toward politics?
III. Nonvoting:
A. Some say that low voter turnout means
that people are satisfied with the current
condition of society
B. Politics is not the primary concern of
most Americans
1. work, school, religion, family, etc.
2. Many misreport their voting record (saying
they have when they haven’t)
Who REALLY participates?
Different factors can tell us who votes
• Education – MOST IMPORTANT, more
education=more voting
• Religious involvement
• Race and Ethnicity – Whites higher than
minorities
• Age – 18-24 is the lowest, and 45 and up
is the highest
Who REALLY participates?
•
•
•
Gender – men traditionally voted more,
now it is more equal
Two-party competition – more
competitive elections have higher turnout
Cross-cutting cleavages – individuals
influenced by many factors, it is
important when testing for this that
variables are controlled
C. About 1/5 of Americans seem to be
completely inactive
1. About 1/9 are activists
2. Higher levels of education and
religiosity is correlated with voting
3. if income and schooling are the same,
black people vote more than white people
How ideological are Americans?
• 1950 study – “The American Voter”
• 4 basic types of voter
1. Ideologues – 12% of people connect
their opinions to party lines
2. Group Benefits Voter – 42% of people
connect their opinion to their “group”.
(labor union, interest group, class, race)
How ideological are Americans?
3. Nature of the times voter – 24% of the
people linked good or bad times to the
party in control and vote the opposite
(usually based on economics).
4. No Issue Content – 22% of the people
could give no reason
• Negative impact of low voter turnout:
– Many social groups are underrepresented.