Chapter 8: Political Participation

AP US GOVERNMENT

Presentation Outline 1) How American Elections Work 2) Evolution of Voting Rights 3) Historical + Current barriers to Voting Rights 4) Voter turnout 5) Voting patterns

1) How American Elections Work

Three types of elections:◦ Select party nominees (primary elections)◦ Select officeholders (general elections)◦ Select options on specific policies

◦ Referendum: state-level method of direct legislation that gives voters a chance to approve proposed legislation or constitutional amendment

◦ Initiative petition: process permitted in some states whereby voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote, given a sufficient number of signatures

2) Evolution of Voting Rights

Suffrage: the legal right to vote◦ Extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth

Amendment◦ Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned voting

discrimination directed towards African-Americans◦ Extended to Women by the Nineteenth

Amendment◦ Extended to people over 18 years of age by the

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

3) Historical + Current Barriers to Voting RightsoAfter the 15th Amendment extended the right to vote to African-Americans a series of discriminatory voting requirements ensured that few Blacks would actually vote, and that few candidates who supported Black civil rights would win (1870s-1960s):

oLiteracy test

oPoll tax

oGrandfather clause

Literacy tests like the one above from the state of Louisiana were designed to prevent uneducated Blacks from voting. If you could not pass the test, you could not vote.

The poll tax was designed to prevent Blacks from voting- many were poor and could not afford the tax$1.50 back in 1948 was a half day’s wage for some.

The grandfather clause allowed poor Southern Whites to vote without the literacy test or poll tax as long as they could proved that their ancestors had voted before 1867

Current Voting requirements

Registering To Vote◦ Voter Registration: a system adopted

by the states that requires voters to register well in advance of the election day

◦ Registration procedures differ by state.

◦ Motor Voter Act: passed in 1993, requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for their driver’s license

How could these requirements discourage some people from voting?

4) Voter turnout U.S. has low voter turnout

◦ Downs: it is rational to not vote◦ Those who see clear differences between parties are

likely to vote.◦ If indifferent, then one may rationally abstain from

voting.◦ Political Efficacy: the belief that one’s political

participation really matters◦ Civic Duty: the belief that in order to support democratic

government, a citizen should always vote

What accounts for the trend

below?

Why do fewer people turn out to vote during congressional cycle elections?

Why is voter turnout

so low during

primaries?

5) Voting Patterns Who Votes?

◦ Education: More education = more likely to vote. Most important factor

◦ Age: Older = more likely to vote◦ Race: Caucasian = more likely to vote. BUT, other

ethnicities are higher with comparable education◦ Gender: Female = more likely to vote

Who Votes? ◦Marital Status: Married = more likely to vote

◦Union Membership: Union member = more likely to vote

◦Traits are cumulative–possessing several adds up

What conclusions can you draw from this table?

Voting Patterns

Democrats:

Kennedy(1960)Obama (2008)

Republicans:

Nixon (1960)McCain (2008)

What general conclusions can you draw regarding voting preferences among Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks?What might account for these preferences?