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Chapter 13: Voting and Elections
I Roots of Voting Behavior
1.
Voting is the most widespread example of conventional political participation. a.
Conventional political participation—political participation that attempts to influence the political process through well-accepted, often moderate forms of persuasion. Ex. Writing letters to government officials, making political contributions, voting b.
Unconventional political participation—political participation that attempts to influence the political process through unusual or extreme measures, such as protests, boycotts, and picketing. Ex. Shay’s Rebellion, Boston Tea Party
2.
Research on voting behavior seeks primarily to explain two phenomena: a.
Voter turnout (what factors contribute to an individual’s decision to vote or not to vote) b.
Vote choice (once the decision to vote has been made, what leads voters to choose one candidate over another
A Patterns in Voter Turnout
1.
Turnout—the proportion of the voting age public that votes
2.
About 40% of the eligible adult population in the United States votes regularly, whereas
25% are occasional voters and 35 % rarely or never vote.
3.
Turnout is very important in the American system because it is a winner take all system where elections can be won or lost by a single voter.
4.
Factors that influence voter turnout: education, age, income, gender, race and ethnicity, group membership, and interest in politics.
Education and Income
1.
The higher the education level the more likely one is to vote.
2.
A higher income level the more likely one is to vote.
3.
People with more education tend to learn more about politics, are less hindered by registration requirements, and are more self-confident about their ability to affect public life.
4.
Citizen with incomes over $65,000 vote more than citizens with incomes under $35,000
5.
The wealthier you are the more likely you are to think that the “system” works while the poorer you are you feel alienated by the system.
6.
One consequence of the classless US political system is that the interests of the poor receive relatively little public attention, feeding feelings of alienation and apathy.

Age
1.
The higher your age the more likely one is to vote. Theory is that the younger voters are more mobile and have not yet put down roots which makes it harder to register to vote.
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Gender
1.
1920, 19 th amendment = women’s right to vote
2.
In the beginning women voted at a lower rate than men, now women vote at the same or a slightly higher rate than men.
Race and Ethnicity
1.
Whites still tend to vote more regularly than do African Americans, Hispanics, and other minority groups.
2.
Factors that explain the difference b/w whites and African Americans: income and educational levels.
3.
2000 Census revealed that the Hispanic community in the US is now slightly larger than the African American community/ thus they have the potential to wield tremendous political power.
4.
Key factors in Hispanic decision making: country of origin, length of time in the US, and income levels.
Group Membership
1.
Individuals who are members of civic organizations, trade and professional organizations, and labor unions are more likely to vote and participate in politics than those who are not members of these or similar types of groups.
2.
People who attend church are also more likely to vote.
3.
This is key b/c these organization usually emphasize community involvement which encourages voting and exposes its members to political parties.
Interest in Politics
1.
Those who have an interest are also more likely to vote b/c it leads people to gather information and gives them a desire to fully participate in the voting process.
B Why is Voter Turnout So Low?
1.
The United States has one of the lowest voter participation rates in the industrialized world.
2.
Reasons for not voting: too busy, difficulty of registration, difficulty of absentee voting, number of elections, voter attitudes, weakened influence of political parties.

Too Busy
1.
Large portion were too busy or had an emergency. While these reasons seem to account for a large portion of the people surveyed, they may also reflect the respondents’ desire not to seem uneducated about the candidates and issues or apathetic about the political process.
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Difficulty of Registration
1.
Several reasons for low US voter registration rate: a.
In the US the registration responsibility is placed on the individual and not the government’s responsibility. Thus, the cost (in terms of time and effort) of registering to vote is higher in the United States than it is in other industrialized countries. b.
Many nations automatically register citizens to vote but not in the US.
Difficulty of Absentee Voting
1.
Stringent absentee ballot laws are another factor in low voter turnout in the United States.
Number of Elections
1.
The sheer number of elections is another reason for low voter turnout.
Voter Attitudes
1.
Voter attitudes also play an important part.
2.
Some voters are alienated, and others are just plain apathetic, possibly because of lack of pressing issues in a particular year, satisfaction with the status quo, or uncompetitive
(even uncontested) elections.
3.
Citizen may also be turned off by the quality of the campaigns due to mudslinging and petty issues.
4.
Possible solutions mandatory voting as is in Belgium and Australia who fine voters for failing to vote.
Weakened Influence of Political Parties
1.
Today, candidate-centered campaigns and the growth of expansive party bureaucracies have resulted in a somewhat more distant party with which fewer people identify very strongly.
C Efforts to Improve Voter Turnout
1.
Increase efforts to raise the awareness of younger citizens.
2.
Increase formal education levels

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3.
Institutional reforms as discussed below.
Discuss Pro and Cons of Each of these Institutional reforms
Easier registration and Convenience Voting
Make Election Day a Holiday
Strengthen Parties
Other Suggestions
D Patterns in Vote Choice
1.
There are predictable patters of vote choice.
2.
Some of the most prominent correlates of vote choice include partisan identification, race and ethnicity, gender, religion, income, ideology, issues, and campaign-specific developments.
Party identification
1.
Party identification remains the most powerful predictor of voter behavior
2.
Ticket splitting—voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election.
3.
Explanations for ticket splitting a.
Voters split their tickets b/c they trust neither party to govern. They do this to augment the checks and balances already in the Constitution. b.
Voters split their tickets b/c partisanship has become less relevant as a voting cue. c.
Other explanations include: the growth of issue-oriented politics and single interest groups, the greater emphasis on candidate-centered personality politics, and broader based education are all often cited.
Race and Ethnicity
1.
Different racial and ethnic groups tend to vote in distinct patterns
2.
Whites Republican; African Americans and Hispanics vote Democrat.
Gender
1.
Women more likely to support the Democrat and men the Republican
Religion
1.
Jewish = democrat, Catholics = Republican, Protestants = Republicans (but numbers are shifting),

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Income
1.
The poor vote democrat, the rich vote republican
2.
Generally the president who wins the majority of the “middle class” votes will win the presidency.
Ideology
1.
Ideology represents on of the most significant divisions in contemporary American
Politics.
2.
Liberals—favor government involvement in social programs (like Social Security, public education, and Medicare) and are committed to the ideals of tolerance and social justice.
Liberals tend to view government as an instrument of social progress.
3.
Conservatives—tend to favor defense and police protection as the top priorities of government and believe that private and faith based organization are better suited to provide social programs than the government. Conservatives are dedicated to the ideals of individualism and market-based competition, and they tend to view government as a necessary evil rather than an agent of social improvement.
4.
Moderates, who compromise the bulk of the American electorate lie in the middle.
5.
Liberals tend to vote for democrats and conservatives tend to vote republican.
Issues
1.
Voters tend to reward the party in office during good economic times and punish the party in bad economic times.
2.
Retrospective judgment—a voter’s evaluation on the performance of the party in power.
3.
Prospective judgment—a voter’s evaluation of a candidate based on what he or she pledges to do about an issue if elected.
II Elections in the United States
1.
Both the ballot and the bullet are methods of governmental change anywhere in the world.
2.
Regular free elections guarantee mass political action and enable citizens to influence the actions of their government.
A Purposes of Elections
1.
Popular elections confer on a government the legitimacy that it can achieve no other way.
2.
Elections confirm the very concept of popular sovereignty, the idea that legitimate political power is derived form the consent of the governed, and they serve as the bedrock for democratic governance.
3.
Authoritarian system—a system of government that bases its rule on force rather than consent of the governed. North Korea, Syria, China

4.
Elections are the primary means to fill public offices and staff the government.
5.
Regular elections ensures that the government is accountable to the people it serves
6.
Electorate—the citizens eligible to vote.
7.
The threat of elections keeps policy makers concerned with public opinion and promotes ethical behavior, as nothing makes incumbent more vulnerable than a scandal.
8.
Winners will claim a mandate.
9.
Mandate—a command indicated by the electorate’s votes, for the elected officials to carry out their platforms.
B Types of Elections
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1.
Primary election—election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election.
2.
2 types of primaries: closed and open
3.
Closed primary—a primary election in which only a party’s registered voters are eligible to vote.
4.
Open primary—a primary in which party members, independents, and sometimes members of the other party are allowed to vote.
5.
Closed primaries are considered more healthy because it prevents one party from influencing the other party’s decisions.
6.
Crossover voting—participation in the primary of a party with which the voter is not affiliated.
7.
Raiding—an organized attempt by voters of one party to influence the primary results of the other party.
8.
Runoff primary—a second primary election b/w the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in the first primary.
General Elections
1.
General elections—election in which voters decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices.
2.
Whereas primaries are contest b/w the candidates within each party, general elections are contests between candidates of opposing parties.
Initiative, Referendum, and Recall p. 465-467.
1.
Ballot measure—an election option such as the initiative or referendum that enables votes to enact public policy.
2.
Initiative—an election that allows citizens to propose legislation and submit it to the state electorate for popular vote.
3.
Referendum—an election whereby the state legislation submits proposed legislation to the state’s voters for approval.
4.
Recall—an election

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III Presidential Elections
The state party organizations use several types of methods to elect national convention delegates and ultimately select the candidates who will run against each other in the general election.
1.
Winner-take-all primary: Under this system the candidate who wins the most votes in a state secures all of that state’s delegates. While Democrats non longer permit its use because it is viewed as less representative than a proportional system, Republicans generally prefer this process as it enables a candidate to amass a majority of delegates quickly and shortens the divisive primary season.
2.
Proportional representation primary: Under this system, candidates who secure a threshold percentage of votes are awarded delegates in proportion to the number of popular votes won. Democrats now strongly favor this system and use it in many state primaries, where they award delegates to anyone who wins more than 15 percent in any congressional district. Although proportional representation is probably the fairest way of allocating delegates to candidates, its downfall is that it renders majorities of delegates more difficult to accumulate and thus can lengthen the contest for the presidential nomination.
3.
Caucus: Under this system, party members meet in small groups throughout a state to discuss and select the party’s delegates to the national convention. While less common in recent years than in the past, this method maintains some of the characteristics of the era in which party bosses selected candidates. The first in the nation contest, the Iowa caucus, serves as the first test of candidate strength and receives a remarkable level of attention by both the candidates and the media.
A Primaries versus Caucuses
1.
The caucus is the oldest, most party-oriented method of choosing delegates to the national conventions
2.
Primaries help to nominate more moderate and appealing candidates.
3.
Caucus voters are more informed by the basic design of the caucus while primary voters are more likely to base their decisions on campaign advertisements and candidate popularity among media elites.
4.
Front-loading—the tendency of states to choose an early date on the primary calendar.
5.
Front loading has important affects on the nomination process. a.
This schedule usually benefits the front runner since the opponents have little time to turn the contest around. b.
It gives an advantage to the candidate who wins the “invisible primary”, the one who can raise the bulk of the money before the nomination season begins.
6.
Internet fund raising has become a key means of competition in the “invisible primary”

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B Party Conventions
1.
The out of power party goes first and the party in office goes second usually in July and
August respectively.
2.
The Conventions is fundamentally different from what it was in the past. a.
Its importance as a party conclave, at which compromises on party leadership and policies can be worked out has diminished b.
Although conventions still formally selects the presidential ticket, most nominations are settled in advance. c.
Three preconvention factors have lessened the role of the current parties and conventions: delegate selection, national candidates and issues, and the news media.
Delegate Selection
1.
Unit rule—a traditional party practice under which the majority of a state delegation can force the minority
2.
Superdelegate—delegate slot to the Democratic party’s national convention that is reserved for an elected party official.
National Candidates and Issues
1.
Political perceptions and loyalties of voters are now influenced largely by national candidates and issues, a factor that has undoubtedly served to diminish the power of state and local party leaders at the convention.
2.
The national candidates have usurped the autonomy of state party leaders with the preconvention ability to garner delegate support.
3.
National issues remain central to the convention
4.
Party professionals are no longer able to dominate the process
The News Media
1.
The media had helped to transform the national convention into a political extravaganza.
2.
The media preempts the convention by keeping count of the delegates committed to the candidates; giving much more information.
3.
Pros and cons of media coverage p. 473
C The Electoral College: How Presidents are Elected
1.
Object is to win a majority of the electoral college
2.
Electoral college—Representatives of each state who cast the final ballots that actually elect a president.
3.
Elector—member of the elector college chosen by methods determined in each state.

4.
The total number of electors for each state is equivalent to the number of to Senators and
Representatives each state has in the U.S. Congress. The District of Columbia has three votes making the total number 538 votes. A presidential candidate needs 270 votes to win.
5.
Three essential for understanding the Framers’ design for the electoral college. The system was constructed to : a.
Work without political parties b.
To cover both the nominating and electing phases of presidential selection; c.
To produce a nonpartisan president
6.
The system was designed for when the Framers’ made the constitution and what they believed the American political system would stay the same. This system would be a nonpartisan, consensus based, indirectly representative multi candidate system.
7.
It did not remain this way.
Electoral College in the 19 th
Century
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1.
12 th amendment 1804
Electoral College in the 20 th
and 21 st
Centuries
Discuss Bush v. Gore (2000) and the Florid vote. P. 475-476
1.
Reapportionment—the reallocation of the number of seats in the House of
Representatives after each decennial census (every 10 years)
The Electoral College Reconsidered
1.
Three major reform ideas have been offered to help correct the problems of the electoral college made evident by the 2000 election. a.
Popular vote b.
Congressional district plan c.
Keep the college, abolish the electors
III Congressional Elections
1.
The current system enhances the advantages of incumbency
2.
Incumbency—the holding of an office/
3.
People in office tend to stay in office.
4.
Primary causes of incumbency advantage: staff support, media and travel, the “scare-off” effect, redistricting.
Staff Support
1.
The ability of an elected official to help the public ie the voters with his hand picked staff to keep them happy.

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Media and travel
1.
Most incumbents are highly visible in their districts
2.
Convenient schedules and generous travel allowances increase the local availability of incumbents.
The “Scare-Off” Effect
1.
An indirect advantage of incumbency: the ability of the office holder to fend off challenges from strong opposition candidates;
2.
This also explains why reelection rates tend to be lower in the Senate than in the House.
Redistricting
1.
Redistricting—redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states as well as population shifts within a state.
2.
Redistricting is a largely political process that the majority party in a state uses to ensure formation of voting districts that protect their majority.
3.
Gerrymandering—the legislative process through which the majority party in each statehouse tries to assure that the maximum number of representatives form its political party can be elected to Congress through the redrawing of legislative districts.
4.
Because of enormous population growth, the partisan implications of redistricting, and the requirements under the Voting Rights Act for minorities to get an equal chance to elect candidates of their choice, legislators end up drawing oddly shaped districts to achieve their goals.
5.
The dominant party usually uses redistricting to make their incumbents safer.
B Countervailing Forces to the Incumbency Advantage
1.
Four major reasons why incumbents lose: redistricting efforts, scandals, presidential coattails, and midterm elections.
Redistricting efforts
1.
Redistricting can be used to punish incumbents in the out of power party.
Scandals
Presidential Coattails
1.
Successful presidential candidates usually carry into office congressional candidates of the same party in the year of their election.
2.
This has weakened due to the as party identification has weakened and the powers and perks of incumbency have grown.

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C Midterm Elections
1.
Midterm election—an election that takes place in the middle of a presidential term.
2.
These present a threat to incumbents who are members of the president’s party.
3.
The presidential party usually gains seats in election years and loses seats in the off years.
4.
Most apparent is the tendency of voters to punish the president’s party much more severely in the sixth year of an eight year presidency a phenomenon associated with retrospective voting.
5.
Senate elections are less inclined to follow these off year elections as are House elections.
IV The 2008 Congressional Elections
V Toward Reform: Strengthening the Electoral Process
A Regional Primaries
1.
Regional primaries—a proposed system in which the country would be divided into five or six geographical areas and all states in each region would hold their presidential primary elections on the same day.
B Campaign Finance Reform
C Online Voting
D Voting by Mail
E Modernizing the Ballot
Key Terms:
Authoritarian system, ballot measure, closed primary, conventional political participation, crossover voting, elector, Electoral College, electorate, front-loading, general election, gerrymandering, incumbency, initiative, mandate, midterm election, open primary, primary election, prospective judgment, raiding, reapportionment, recall, redistricting, referendum, regional primary, retrospective judgment, runoff primary, superdelegate, ticket-splitting, turnout, unconventional political participation, unit rule.