CHAPTER 7 POLITICAL PARTICIPATION: ACTIVATING THE POPULAR WILL

More than a third of American adults did not bother to vote

Voting is a form of political participationinvolvement in activities intended to
influence public policy and leadership
The concept of self-government is based on the idea that citizens have a right and a duty
to participate in public affairs
Voter Participation

At the nations founding, suffragethe right to votewas limited to

property-owning males

African Americans
They gained suffrage after the Civil War with passage of the 15th
Amendment,
which says the right to
vote cannot be abridged
on account of race,
color, or previous
conditions of servitude
Not until th3 1960s did
the Congress and the
courts sweep away the
last legal barriers to
equal suffrage for African
Americans

Women
Women did not secure
the vote until 1920, with
the ratification of the 19th
Amendment

Age
The nations youngest adults are the most recent beneficiaries of a suffrage
amendment
The 26th
Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 years. If youre old enough
to die, youre old enough to vote was the rallying cry of this proponents

Factors in Voter Turnout: The United States in Comparative Perspectives

Many Americans shrink their duty
Millions choose not to vote regularly
In the past two decades, voter turnoutthe proportion of adult citizens who
actually vote in a given electionhas averaged roughly 60% in presidential
elections
Turnout in presidential elections is significantly higher than the turnout in the
midterm congressional elections that take place between presidential elections
Turnout in local elections is lower still
Registration Requirements

Americans names must appear on an official list of eligible voters

Registration began around 1900 as a way of preventing voters from

casting more than one ballot on Election Day

Although registration reduced illegal voting, it also placed a burden on

honest citizens

Other democracies placed the responsibility of registration on the

government, while American puts in on the citizens

Voters identification card serves to discourage voter turnout

Republicans say government-issued photo identification is needed to

prevent voter fraud, while Democrats say the voter ID requirement is a

thinly disguised effort to keep lower-income people, many of whom dont

have a drivers license or passport, from voting

In 2008, SC ruled that states have a valid interest in improving election

procedures and deterring fraud
Frequency of Elections

The US holds elections more often than other nations

In an effort of eliminate presidential coattails, states began in the 1930s

to hold their gubernatorial elections in nonpresidential years

Elections in the US have traditionally been scheduled on Tuesday, forcing

many adults to find time before or after work to get to the polls

Why some Americans Vote and Others Do Not

Education and Income

College-educated and upper-income Americans have above-average

voting rates, they have the financial resources and communication skills

Americans with a college degree or high income are 50 percent more

likely to vote in a presidential election than are those who did not finish
high school or have a low income

Europeans with less income and education are encouraged to participate

by the presence of class-based organizations and appealssocialists or
labor parties, politically oriented trade unions, and class-based political
ideologies

Americans with less income and education are the people most adversely
affected by the countrys registration system
Age

Young adults are substantially less likely than middle-aged and older
citizens to vote

Younger adults are less likely to live in the same residence from one
election to the next and are more likely to have to reregister in order to
establish their eligibility to vote
Civics Attitude

Apathya lack of interest in politicstypifies some citizens

Still other Americans refrain from voting because of alienationa

feeling of powerless rooted in the belief that government pays no
attention to their interest

Voting is a waste of time because government wont respond to their

concerns when if they do vote

Some Americans have a keen sense of civic dutya belief that they ought
to participate in public affairs

Civic duty and apathy are attitudes that are usually acquired from ones
parents
Political Interest and Party Identification

The likelihood that citizens will vote varies with their interst in politics

Party identifies have turned out at a rate in excess of 75%, compared with
a mere 50% for independents

They are more familiar with the policy differences between the parties
and therefore are more likely to be aware of the elections consequences
Conventional Forms of Participation Other than Voting

No form of political participation is as widespread as voting

Voting is a limited form of participation

Campaign and Lobbying Activities

Compared with voting, working for a candidate is more time consuming

The number is substantially

higher in the US than in
Europe
One reason Americans are
more active in campaigns is
that the US is a federal
system with campaigns for
national, state, and local
offices

Virtual Participation
The introduction of the
World Wide Web in the
1990s opened up an entirely
new venue for political
participationthe Internet
Internet participation peaks
during presidential campaigns and now easily outstrips conventional
participation
More than five million Americans contributed online to a candidate
The democratizing effect of the Web has been noted widely and, as Internet
use and Technology continue to advance, an era of unprecedented citizen
involvement and influence could result

Community Activities
Political participation extends beyond campaigns and elections to involvement
in the community
These forms of participations offer citizens a substantial degree of control over
the timing and extent of their participation
The chief obstacle to participation is the motivation to join in
Most people choose not to get involved, particularly when it comes to
time-consuming activities
In a widely discussed book titled Bowling Alone, Harvards Robert Putname
claims that America has been undergoing a long-term decline in its social
capital
Unconventional Activism: Social Movements and Protest Politics

During the predemocratic era, people resorted to protest as a way to expressing

displease with their rulers

Although the vote gives citizens control over the government, the vote also gives
government control over citizens

Social movements, or political movements as they are sometimes called, are a way
for citizens disenchanted with government policy to actively express their
opposition

Political Protests have taken on new forms in recent years

Traditionally a desperate act that began, often spontaneously when a group
had lost hope of succeeding by more conventional methods
Today, protest is usually a planned event

The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street Protest Movements

Tea Party

The Tea Party came to the publics attention on April 15, 2009

Those that took the streets in hundreds of cities and towns on that April
day were expressing their opposition to high taxes

Tea Party activists successfully challenged establishment GOP candidates

in the 2010 primaries prevailing in several states

Their platform, which was labeled a Contract from America called for
sharp reductions in federal spending: Our moral, political, and economic
liberties are inherent, not granted by our government. It is essential to the
practice of these liberties that we be free from restrictions over our
peaceful political expression and free from excessive control over our
economic choices.

Their uncompromising position contributed to a congressional deadlock

that nearly put the US government turmoil weakened the Tea Partys
standing with the American public
The Occupy Wall Street

The Occupy Wall Street movement would also see its public support
decline but for a different reasonAmericans unease with movements
that pit protests against the police

OWS was angry at the governments bailout of the financial industry and
its failure to hold the bankers accountable for their hold in the countrys
financial crisis

OWSs target was

private wealth

We are the 99%

Its momentum slowed

and then reversed when
local officials began to
disband OWS
encampments, citing
safety, convenience, and
health concerns
The Publics Response to
Protest Activity
Public support for protest
actively is also relatively low in the US
Although most Americans recognize that protest is part of Americans tradition
of free expression, they do not embrace it in the way they do voting or
community work
In this sense, protest is seen as something to be accepted but not necessarily to
be admired