Participating in Government

Participating in GovernmentChapter 4

Voting and Participation

Political participation takes many forms in American politics.

At the core of participation is the act of voting. Open and free elections held on a regular basis

are the hallmark characteristic of a democratic government.

Voting provides the critical linkage between citizen’s preferences and governmental authority.


The United States is not a direct democracy in which every citizen is invited to deliberate the issues and vote on public policy.

Rather, the United States system is a representative democracy, sometimes referred to as an indirect democracy or republican form of government.

Citizens choose the individuals who are then responsible for making and enforcing public policy.

The people do not rule directly, but exercise their power vicariously by choosing individuals they prefer as their leaders.


The core principle underlying a representative democracy is majoritarianism, or majority rule.

When choices are presented to the voters, the choice that is supported by the most voters is the choice that prevails.

After the majority makes its choice, the consent of the governed is satisfied – the will of the people is accomplished when the majority decides.

Voting is the mechanism that ensures the majority will rule.

Times change, and so do people’s opinions and preferences.


Therefore, a representative democracy requires that elections occur on a regular basis so that the government’s authority reflects changing majority views. Regular and periodic elections allow the majority

of voters to continue to exercise ultimate control over the direction of public policy.

The Legal Structure for Voting

The franchise, or suffrage, is the right to vote.

Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution assigns the system of voting to the states. Voting registration, voter eligibility, methods of

casting ballots, and the tallying of official results are all functions reserved for states.

The Constitution prescribes eligibility requirements for federal officeholders and lays out the system for selection of the president and vice-president; HOWEVER, it says nothing about who can vote in elections.

The Legal Structure for Voting

Constitutional amendments have been ratified and federal laws have been passed preventing states from discriminating in granting suffrage rights. Still, technically, there exists no absolute

constitutional right to vote in the first place.

Toward Universal Suffrage

The states have exercised significant authority in defining who is eligible to vote. For many years, states regularly denied

minorities, women, young adults, Native Americans, and the poor the right to vote for officeholders at the local, state, and national levels of government.

In addition, a number of states prescribed property ownership requirements, poll taxes, and literacy tests that prevented many people fro being eligible to vote.


But the goal of universal suffrage – or the right of all citizens to vote – has been an elusive one throughout American history. Restrictions on voting rights have systemically

denied the right of particular groups of people to participate in choosing their leaders.

Yet, universal suffrage is a process, not the result of one or two events. Two centuries of government under the

Constitution have been marled by steady progress toward the goal of extending the franchise to all Americans.


In the first federal elections in 1788, voting rights were limited to white men who owned property.

The Civil War presented the first major challenge to the disenfranchisement of a particular class of people – blacks. Prior to the Civil War, black slaves did not have the

right to vote; actually, they had no rights at all.

The infamous Dred Scott decision ruled that slaves were property, had no rights under the law, and were not or would ever become legal citizens of the United States.


The so-called “Reconstruction Amendments” were met with some resistance; however, they solved the disenfranchisement crisis. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished the

institution of slavery.

The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to former black slaves.

The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed that a citizen’s right to vote would not be abridged based on race.

The Fifteenth Amendment was the first formal action of the federal government to enforce voting rights over the states.


The Fifteenth Amendment did not deter former Confederate states from finding new ways to deny blacks their newly won voting rights after Reconstruction ended in 1877. Threats, beatings, destruction of property, and

other intimidation tactics effectively kept blacks from coming to the polls on Election Day.

Additionally, the states sought legal means to prevent blacks from voting. A poll tax required individuals to pay a fee

before being allowed to vote.

A literacy test was required to prove that they could read and write.


The civil rights movement of the 1960s addressed the problems associated with the disenfranchisement of blacks.

Two important products of this movement were the Twenty-Fourth Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) outlawed

poll taxes by making unconstitutional any law that required payment for voting eligibility.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 denied states the right to use literacy tests as a requirement for voting.


The past century also witnessed the enfranchisement of women. The passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 made

the abridgement of voting based on gender unconstitutional.

Three other groups have successfully won the right to vote through federal legislation and constitutional amendment. A 1924 federal law made it illegal for states to deny Native

Americans the franchise.

In 1961, the Twenty-Third Amendment gave residents in the District of Columbia the right to vote in presidential elections.

In 1971, in the midst of the Vietnam War, Congress passed the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, which lowered the voting age to eighteen in all local, state, and federal elections.


Today in the United States, the only adults legally disenfranchised are convicted felons in prison, on probation, and on parole.

Voter Registration Laws

Most states today have voter registration systems in which individuals must qualify to become eligible to vote.

The responsibility for qualifying lies with the individual. States do not compile and maintain a list of

individuals who are eligible to vote.

Rather, individuals must take it upon themselves to demonstrate their qualifications and file the appropriate paperwork to become eligible.

Voter Registration Laws

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, often called the Motor Voter law, mandates that when an individual applies for or renews a state driver’s license, the state must also provide the individual with voter registration materials. Research suggests that although this law has

increased voter registration, it has not increased actual turnout.

Exercising the Franchise

A number of factors explain why people decide to cast a ballot on Election Day.

1. Interest in politics is the only factor that leads people to vote.

2. The perception that their vote can have an impact on the outcome of the election.

3. Social group pressure can be a motivating factor in deciding to vote.

Who Turns Out to Vote?

An individual’s interest in politics and attentiveness to news about politics and campaigns, sense of civic duty, and sense of political efficacy all lead to higher rates of voter turnout.

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who show up to vote on Election Day. A person’s gender, age, and level of education

are all related to the decision to vote.

The better educated and wealthier Americans are substantially more likely to vote.


STATISTICS DATA

Total eligible Americans 206,072,000

Total Americans registered 146,311,000

American voters in the 2012 presidential election

131,144,000 (64%)

State with the highest voter turnout (Minnesota)

75%

State with the lowest voter turnout (Utah)

53.1%


STATISTICS

DATA

Male 69.1%

Female 72.8%

White 73.5%

Black 69.7%

Asian 55.3%

Hispanic 59.4%

STATISTICS

DATA

AGE 18-24 58.5%

AGE 25-34 66.4%

AGE 35-44 69.9%

AGE 45-54 73.5%

AGE 55-64 76.6%

AGE 65-74 78.1%

AGE 75+ 76.6%


STATISTICS

DATA

Less than High School

50.5%

High School Graduate

64.1%

Some College

75.3%

Bachelor’s Degree

81.2%

Advanced Degree

85.8%

STATISTICS

DATA

Less than $20,000

63.7%

$20,000 to $29,999

67.1%

$30,000 to $39,999

71.1%

$40,000 to $49,999

72.6%

$50,000 to $74,999

78.2%

$75,000 to $99,999

81.9%

$100,000 +

79.6%

How Do They Vote?Methods of Casting a Ballot

Once a person decides to vote, there are several different ways a ballot can be cast.

In the United States, five different methods of voting are generally used:

1. hand-counted paper ballots

2. mechanical lever machines

3. computer punch cards

4. optical scan cards

5. electronic voting systems


Each of the fifty states has the authority to administer elections, and most states delegate most of the work to counties and other localities. In all, more than 10,000 jurisdictions at the

county level or below are responsible for carrying out the important task of collecting and tabulating votes.

Paper ballots were the only method of voting used in the United States during the first 100 years of our nation’s history.


Originally, the paper ballots were produced by the political parties with only their candidates listed. On Election Day, the voter would take the ballot from

which political party he/she preferred and placed it in the ballot box.

In 1856, many jurisdictions began using a form known as the “Australian secret ballot,” which listed all of the candidates and the voters choose which candidate they preferred.


The first real technological advance in voting technologies came with the introduction of the lever voting machine in 1892.

A voter enters a voting booth and chooses a candidate by pulling a lever. The votes are recorded by advances in a

counting mechanism that does not require a paper ballot and do not require manual counting of ballots.

After the polls close, a poll worker simply reads the numbers recorded by the counters.


Punch cards, which debuted in 1964, were the first computerized method of vote counting.

Voters record their choices by punching holes in appropriate locations on a card, which are computer readable. The piece of card that is punched is called the

“chad.”

Unlike lever machines, the punch cards may be saved as a record of the vote – manual recounts of the actual votes are possible. Much of the 2000 controversy regarding the

Florida vote in the presidential election dealt with the “hanging” chads (is it a legal vote?).


Optical scan ballots are a method of voting based on the same technology as that used to grade standardized tests such as the SAT.

Given a paper ballot and pen, voters mark their selections by filling in boxes or ovals on the card.

The ballots are then scanned by a computer for vote tabulation. As with punch cards and paper ballots, a

permanent record of the vote is kept and is available for manual counting.


Electronic voting is similar to lever machine voting in that it involves no paper record of the individual votes; yet, the technology is much more sophisticated.

Voters select candidates from a ballot that is displayed on a computer screen. The votes are stored in the computer.

Why Don’t People Vote?

Despite the numerous factors that motivate people to vote, many in fact do not vote. Voter turnout is a measure of how engaged

Americans are in voting in any given election contest.

High turnout is considered a healthy sign for a democratic system. It implies that people are engaged in political

issues, spend the time to contribute to the system, and take responsibility for selecting leaders.

Lower turnout is often viewed as a by-product of alienation, mistrust, and lack of confidence in the political system.

Why Don’t People Vote?

In 1966, political scientist Angus Campbell and his colleagues identified five factors that distinguish between “high-stimulus” elections and “low-stimulus” elections.

The factors that characterize a high-stimulus election are:

1. greater levels of media coverage

2. higher significance of the office

3. campaigns in which voters assign high importance to an issue

4. more attractive candidates

5. perceptions of a close race

Voting Compared with Other Democracies

Many observers of elections note that voter turnout rates are lower in the United States than they are in other democracies.

From 1992 to 2000, the average turnout rate for presidential elections was fifty-two percent and forty-five percent in all federal elections. During this same period of time, turnout in other

nations was much higher.

Several explanations have been offered to account for the lower turnout rates in the United States compared with other democracies.

1. Italy

2. Iceland

3. Greece

4. Belgium

5. Sweden

6. Australia

7. Denmark

8. Chile

9. Argentina

10.Turkey

11.Portugal

12.Spain

13.Austria

14.Brazil

15.Norway

16.Netherlands

17.Germany

18.United Kingdom

19.Finland

20.Ireland

21.Thailand

22.Ecuador

23.France

24.Canada

25.Luxembourg

26.Mexico

27.Peru

28.Bolivia

29.Venezuela

30.Dominican Republic

31.United States

32.Switzerland

33.Columbia

34.Guatemala


There are a large number of elections in America, making the opportunity to participate less of a novelty. Turnout rates are low simply because there are

so many elections held in the United States.

Tuesdays are workdays. Traditionally, most elections are held on

Tuesdays, which is inconvenient and difficult for the working people.

In other nations, elections are held on weekends or over a period of a number of days, which makes it easier for people to find the time to cast a vote.


Voting usually requires advanced registration. In most states, the individual is required to

register to vote prior to Election Day.

In other nations, voter registration is automatic once the individual is of legal age.

Over the past fifty years, perceptions that participation can make a difference in what the government does and that government is responsive to the people have declined. As people come to feel that they are less able to

influence the system and that the system is less responsive to them, they become less likely to vote.


Extensions of the franchise lead to short-term declines in turnout. Ironically, events that have expanded the

franchise have been followed by lower turnout rates.

Voting in the United States is not compulsory. In some democracies, suffrage is seen as a right

so citizens have the opportunity to exercise this right or not.

By contrast, some democracies view suffrage as a citizen’s responsibility and have compulsory voting laws requiring citizens to vote.

Punishments for not voting include large fines, possible imprisonment, and disenfranchisement.


There has been a decline in “social capital.” Social capital is the extent to which individuals

are socially integrated into their community.

Over the past half-century, Americans have become less socially connected to political parties, labor unions, and civic groups.

Is Nonvoting a Problem?

Although turnout has declined, the American political culture encourages people to vote.

Efforts to encourage people to vote is based on the assumption that voting is importance and that nonvoting is problematic. First, low voter turnout rates are a symptom of a

weak democracy because low turnout means that the majority does not rule.

Second, low voter turnout awards more power to the more affluent, higher socioeconomic groups in our society because the less educated and lower income families do not vote.

Making a Vote Choice

After an individual registers to vote and makes the decision to vote, the final phase of the process is to make a choice among the candidates who are running for office.

Research has identified a number of different factors that act as cues to individual voters in helping them make a vote decision. Collectively, these factors are referred to as

“determinants of vote choice.”

Making a Vote ChoiceCandidate Familiarity

The most basic voting cue is simple name recognition and familiarity with a candidate.

Most voters pay little attention to politics and political campaigns. If a voter recognizes one candidate’s name and

no others, they are much more likely to vote for the name they recognize.

Likewise, the more familiar voters are with a candidate, the more likely they are to vote for that candidate.

Making a Vote ChoiceParty Identification

Political parties play many important roles in the American political system.

Often, voters form a psychological attachment to a party that helps them organize their political information and offers an important cue to vote choice. Party identification tends to be a long-term

predisposition – once it forms, it usually remains with an individual over the course of his/her life.

Making a Vote ChoiceIssue Voting

For voters, a candidate’s position on a particular issue or set of issues is a voting cue.

Voting on the basis of issues is more likely to occur in certain types of elections. First, when a particular issue captures the

attention of many people, voter’s are more likely to use a candidate’s position on that issue to form a vote decision.

Second, issue voting occurs more often when an issue is of particular personal concern to a voter.

Third, issue voting is much more likely to occur when the candidates hold clearly distinct positions on issues.

Making a Vote ChoiceRetrospective Voting

A voter’s past experience with a candidate or a political party also can be an important determinant of vote choice.

Retrospective voting suggests that evaluations of an incumbent’s past performance in office provides important cues for voters in deciding whether to vote for that incumbent or the nominee. Voters who believe that an incumbent has done a

fine job will vote for the incumbent once again.

Voters who believe that an incumbent has done a terrible job will vote for the nominee.

Making a Vote ChoiceCandidate Image Voting

The image, personal traits, and other characteristics of the particular candidates in a campaign can also influence the way people vote. Perceptions of candidate image include such

characteristics as honesty, trustworthiness, leadership ability, concern for voters, integrity, intelligence, and sense of humor.

Participating in Government

Education

system of voting

voting rights

voting registration

act of voting

number of states

preventing states

majority of voters

majority rule