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Why Don’t Americans Vote? is one in a seriesof NewsMatters programs. Each 15-20 minutevideo in the NewsMatters series examines animportant issue or topic in the news. A posterpertaining to the topic supports the video,along with a teacher’s guide. The NewsMattersprograms are designed to promote discussionand critical thinking in the classroom.NewsMatters videos will rarely, if ever, provideclear-cut conclusions about an issue. Rather,each video’s goal is to leave more questions inviewers’ minds than answers. The supplemen-tary materials are designed to help focus anddirect these questions and to generatethought and debate about the topic. Thesematerials are flexible. You can control thepace and length of each lesson, and you canuse any, all, or none of these materials.

Over the last 30 years, the percentage ofAmericans voting has steadily declined. Evenpresidential elections have a turnout of lessthan 50 percent, in sharp contrast with manyother democracies. Why Don’t AmericansVote? suggests reasons for this lack of inter-est in politics. This video also shows that vot-ing is one of the most important waysAmericans can participate in their govern-ment and it looks at what has brought votersto the polls in recent elections. Ten of the fol-lowing activities can be reproduced. Your stu-dents can organize and complete eight of theexercises on their own. The other activitiesare designed for classroom participation andteacher presentation.

NEWSMatters

Why Don’t Americans Vote?

About NEWSMatters NEWSMatters Teacher’s Guidefor

Why Don’t Americans Vote?

Readiness Activity(An activity to be done before viewing the video)

This activity will help your students become familiar with some of the important terms andthemes in Why Don’t Americans Vote? before they watch the video. Divide the class into fivegroups. Assign each group three of the terms listed below. One member of each group shouldrecord an agreed-upon definition or description for each term and then present these defini-tions to the class for discussion.

NEWSMatters is produced by Knowledge Unlimited®, Inc.Copyright © 2000 by Knowledge Unlimited®, Inc., all rights reserved.

ISBN 1-55933-288-3KNOWLEDGE UNLIMITED NEWSMatters, P.O. Box 52, Madison, WI 53701

democracyindependent candidateapathyimpeachmentspecial interest groups

voter registrationcredibilitypolls electoratethird party

campaign finance reformfranchisevoting age populationballotcivic

Vol. 4 No. 1

2 © 2000 by Knowledge Unlimited,® Inc.

Discussion Questions

These questions will help you and your class review important points made in the video. Thequestions will also give some structure to your discussions about Why Don’t Americans Vote?After your students view the video, ask them to comment on these questions. Some questionshave specific answers and others are more open-ended. You may wish to use these questionsas a springboard for further discussion.

■ Why do you think turnout was so low for the 1996 presidential election?

■ Why do you think most eligible Americans want a voice in choosing their own elected officials?

■ Do you think that, in general, Americans don’t trust politicians? Why or why not?

■ What scandals might have caused Americans to mistrust elected officials?

■ Why do some Americans think there is little choice between the two major political parties?

■ What effect do strong third-party candidates have on elections?

■ What does campaign finance reform mean? Why does Senator John McCain want to reform cam-paign finance?

■ What do you think could be done to make it easier for Americans to vote?

■ How does voter turnout in most European countries compare with that in the United States?

■ Why do you think voting is more important to citizens in South Africa than to those in the U.S.?

■ Members of which age group are least likely to vote? Why do you think they don’t vote? Members ofwhich age group are most likely to vote? Why do you think this is so?

■ Do you think the percentage of Americans who vote will continue to decline? Why or why not?

© 2000 by Knowledge Unlimited,® Inc. 3

Vocabulary reproducible activity

Name______________________________________________ Date________________________________

As you are doing research for the following activities, you may come across terms that are new to you. Knowing their definitions ahead of time will help you to understand yourresearch better. Look up the following terms and write a brief definition in the space provided. (Some of the terms have more than one meaning. In these cases, write down the meanings that have the most to do with elections or politics.)

civil rights _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________constituents ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________electoral college ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________grassroots _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________literacy ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________platform _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________plurality _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________poll __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________popular vote ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________populist _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________proportional representation ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________suffrage _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Suffrage in the Unites States reproducible class activity

Make a timeline that shows how suffrage expanded in the United States. You can put thetimeline on the blackboard, or use a large piece of paper and fasten it to a bulletin board.

Find out the year each of the following entries happened and write them on the timeline.Under each entry, write a paragraph telling why the event was important. A different classmember can research each event and provide this information.

Other class members should research how voting laws changed in your state over the years,and add those to the time line. For example: Did your state ever have literacy requirementsor poll taxes? When did women first vote in your state? Add these events to your timeline.

Timeline entries

In most places in the United States, only white male property owners could vote.

Congress established a uniform election day for presidential elections.

A women’s convention at Seneca Falls, N.Y., discussed women’s rights.

The 14th Amendment was adopted.

The 15th amendment was adopted.

A law was passed that provided for federal supervision of elections in anycity having more than 20,000 inhabitants.

Susan B. Anthony tested the 14th Amendment by leading a group ofwomen to cast ballots in the presidential election.

The 17th Amendment went into effect.

The19th Amendment was adopted.

The 24th Amendment was adopted.

President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The 26th amendment went into effect.

Literacy requirements for voting were abolished.

CLASS DISCUSSION

• Why do you think so many laws were passed concerning voting rights?


Elections Around the World reproducible activity

The countries listed here all have an average voter turnout greater than 70 percent. Look fornews articles and use the library and Internet to research one of the nations and how itholds elections. Locate the nation on a map.

Present a report about the nation to your class. Tell where the nation is in the world, andanswer the following questions: What kind of government does the nation have? Are electionsreally free in this country; that is, is there more than one candidate running for an office andare voters not required by law to vote? Does the nation make it easy for its citizens to vote?In your report, include any other information that helps explain why it has a large voterturnout.

CLASS DISCUSSION

• How could the United States make it easier to vote? Also discuss ways that other countriesget people to the polls that you think the U.S. should not do.

Answers for page 8


Albania

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Bulgaria

Burundi

Ethiopia

Germany

Greece

Iceland

Indonesia

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Malta

Mongolia

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Palestinian Authority

Republic of Korea

Romania

Rwanda

Slovenia

South Africa

Spain

Suriname

Taiwan, Republic of China

Turkey

United Kingdom

1996

1992

1988

1984

1980

1976

1972

1968

1964

1960

196,507,000

189,044,000

182,628,000

174,467,000

164,595,000

152,308,000

140,777,000

120,285,000

114,090,000

109,672,000

96,277,872

104,428,370

91,594,805

92,653,000

86,497,000

81,603,000

77,625,000

73,212,000

70,645,000

68,838,000

Year VAP Total Vote

47,401,054

44,909,326

48,886,097

54,455,075

43,904,153

40,830,763

47,169,911

31,785,480

43,129,566

34,226,731

49

55

50

53

53

54

55

61

62

63

24

24

27

31

27

27

34

26

38

31

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

George Bush

Ronald Regan

Ronald Reagan

Jimmy Carter

Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Lyndon Johnson

John F. Kennedy

% VAP Voted

Voted forWinningCandidate

% Voted for

Winner Elected

State Politics reproducible activity

Name______________________________________________ Date_______________________________

Do you know enough about politics and issues to be an “informed voter”? You always hear alot about the candidates for president, but do you know the names of your state’s electedleaders? Find out about the office holders and the issues that are important in your state.Then fill in the information requested below.

Governor’s name and his or her political party__________________________________________________________________________________

Senior U.S. senator and his or her political party__________________________________________________________________________________

Junior U.S. senator and his or her political party__________________________________________________________________________________

U.S. representative for your district and his or her political party__________________________________________________________________________________

Number of U.S. representatives from your state __________________________________________________________________________________

Number of state’s electoral votes__________________________________________________________________________________

In the last presidential election, the electoral votes in my state went to __________________________________________________________________________________

From the information above, is your state mostly Republican, Democratic, or neither? __________________________________________________________________________________

List three issues that you think are important issues in your state.

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

CLASS DISCUSSION

• Discuss the issues and problems that you and your classmates think are important in yourstate. Why do you think they are important? What have your state’s governor and con-gressmen done about these problems?


Vote for Me! reproducible activity

Name______________________________________________ Date_______________________________

Besides voting, a citizen can get involved in government by running for office. But anyonewho wants to get elected has to convince citizens to get out and vote. Tackle this problem asif you were a candidate for elected office. The office can be anything from mayor, schoolboard member, county sheriff, governor, state or national senator, or president. You mustconvince voters you are the best person for the job and that they have to get out to vote inorder for you to be elected. So you should appeal to their civic responsibility in addition totouting your own qualifications.

Write a convincing speech to present to the “voters,” your classmates.

__________________________________________________________________________________

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VAP Voters reproducible activity

Name______________________________________________ Date_______________________________

How many Americans choose our leaders? In 1996, about 49 percent of the voting age popu-lation (VAP) voted in the presidential election. Only about 49 percent of the Americans whoactually voted selected Bill Clinton. This means that about 24 percent of the voting age popu-lation voted for Mr. Clinton, but that was enough for him to win.

Using the numbers in the table below, figure out what percentage of the VAP voted in each ofthe presidential elections beginning in 1960. Then calculate what percentage of the VAP votedfor the winning candidate. Round off your answers to the nearest percentage point and writethem in the appropriate boxes.

Do some research to find out who won each election and write his name in the last column.The 1996 row is already filled out.

Note to teacher: Answers on page 5.

CLASS DISCUSSION

• In general over the last 40 years, less than half of eligible voters actually voted forthe candidate who got to be president. Discuss this fact and what you think itmeans for our nation.


1996

1992

1988

1984

1980

1976

1972

1968

1964

1960

196,507,000

189,044,000

182,628,000

174,467,000

164,595,000

152,308,000

140,777,000

120,285,000

114,090,000

109,672,000

96,277,872

104,428,370

91,594,805

92,653,000

86,497,000

81,603,000

77,625,000

73,212,000

70,645,000

68,838,000

Year VAP Total Vote

47,401,054

44,909,326

48,886,097

54,455,075

43,904,153

40,830,763

47,169,911

31,785,480

43,129,566

34,226,731

49 24 Bill Clinton

% VAP Voted

Voted forWinningCandidate

% Votedfor

Winner Elected

Political Bosses and Machines reproducible activity

In the past, organizations called “political machines” helped many politicians get elected.Some experts say one reason voting numbers are down today is that there aren’t any morebig political machines.

Political machines worked in this way: The head of a political machine — its “boss” — oftendid favors for the voters in his district. For example, he gave them money when they were outof work or their children were sick. He also gave jobs to supporters. In return, the machineboss expected votes for the candidate of his choice.

Members of political machines would drive voters to the polls on election day — and some-times they took the same voters to several different places so they could vote more than once.Some of the worst machine bosses sent thugs out to beat up opponents. Not all of the votingin a boss’s district was illegal, of course. The political machine really got people to the pollswho otherwise might not have voted.

The following is a list of famous political machine bosses. Choose one of them to research and, using aseparate piece of paper, write a brief biography of the boss.

John M. Bailey, Connecticut

Jordan Chambers, St. Louis, Mo.

Ed Crump, Memphis, Tennessee

James Michael Curley, Boston, Mass.

Richard J. Daley, Chicago, Ill.

Frank Hague, Jersey City, New Jersey

Mark Hanna, Cleveland, Ohio

Huey Long, Louisiana

Tom Pendergast, Kansas City, Mo.

Arthur Samish, California

Gene Talmadge, Georgia

William Marcy Tweed, New York City

CLASS DISCUSSION

• What do you think of the political machines? Do you think they helped or hurt the electionsystem? Explain your answer.


Political Parties reproducible activity

Name______________________________________________ Date________________________________

Most voting Americans cast votes for either Republican or Democratic candidates, ignoringthe third-party candidates. Some political observers say that the two major political partiesdon’t always offer voters a clear choice. They think that, these days, Democrats support orcompromise on measures that are considered Republican concerns and vice versa. Whenthis happens, citizens sometimes think it doesn’t matter who is elected. This may be one rea-son many Americans don’t vote.

Are the Republicans and Democrats more alike or different? Research their party platforms.Read news articles about how your state representatives vote in the House and Senate. Thenpick any one of the third parties to research. The third party may be the Reform, Green,Constitution, Natural Law, Libertarian, or other such party.

Listed below are five issues. In the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper, write how eachparty stands on each of these issues

GUN CONTROL

Democrat ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Republican _______________________________________________________________________

Third Party _______________________________________________________________________

DEFENSE

Democrat ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Republican _______________________________________________________________________

Third Party _______________________________________________________________________

EDUCATION

Democrat ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Republican _______________________________________________________________________

Third Party _______________________________________________________________________

ENVIRONMENT

Democrat ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Republican _______________________________________________________________________

Third Party _______________________________________________________________________

TAXES

Democrat ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Republican _______________________________________________________________________

Third Party _______________________________________________________________________

CLASS DISCUSSION

• Do you think the two major parties are more alike than different? How does the third partyyou researched differ from the major political parties?



Special Interest Groups reproducible activity

A special interest group is usually concerned about only a few issues or a certain group ofpeople. The Sierra Club and the American Association of Retired Persons, or AARP, areexamples of special interest groups. The Sierra Club is concerned about the environment,the AARP looks out for the interests of older Americans. Special interest groups may repre-sent religious, labor, or health care organizations, or any other type of organization or busi-ness.

Many experts say special interest groups greatly influence politicians. This is because thesegroups raise money for politicians who help them. The groups also ask their members to votefor these same politicians. Some Americans think politicians favor special interest groups atthe expense of Americans who don’t belong to such groups.

Learn more about special interest groups and how they get what they want. For a week ortwo, collect news articles about organizations you consider to be special interest groups.

Then write your answers to the following questions on a separate piece of paper.

Write your own definition of a special interest group.

Name three special interest groups.

Why do you consider these organizations special interest groups?

What issues concern each group?

What does each group do to influence politicians?

What does each group want the government to do for it?

How successful has each group been in getting lawmakers to pass or not pass legislation?

What are some examples of politicians helping special interest groups?

Do you think these politicians ignore the rest of the electorate when they helped special interest groups? Why or why not?

Would you join a special interest group? Why or why not?

Sierra Club

AARP NRA


Editorial Cartoons reproducible activity

Name_____________________________________________ Date________________________________

Each of these political cartoons looks at a different aspect of voter indifference. Use the spacenext to each cartoon to explain the point the cartoon is trying to make.

CLASS DISCUSSION

• Of these cartoons, which one is most effective in making a point? Why? What do you thinkmakes a good or successful editorial cartoon?

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