1Participation• Turnout in elections• Involvement in campaign politics• Involvement in community politicsNumber of Votes CastTurnout = _____________________Number of Eligible VotersRecent presidential elections = 50% of voting age populationTurnout • Influenced by legal structures– Frequency and date of election– Registration requirements• Personal characteristics– Age and education– AttitudesTurnout in World’s Democracies0102030405060708090100AustraliaBelgiumItalyAustriaNew ZealandDenmarkNetherlandsSwedenGreeceGermanyNorwayIsrealFinlandCanadaBritainJapanSpainIrelandFranceU.S.Switzerland = compulsory voting = automatic registration  = neitherSource: Burns, Peltason, Cronin, Magleby, 17th edition, p. 2902U.S. Registration Laws• Progressive reform (1890s - 1910s)• Past laws restrictive– limit hours of registration– limit location of registration– long residency requirements– early closing of registration prior to electionU.S. Registration Laws• Change in 1960s with new laws and court cases• 1993 Motor Voter LawArizona Registration Laws• Resident of Arizona for 29 days• Not convicted of treason or felony (without civil rights restored)• Not currently declared an incapacitated person by a court of lawChanging Suffrage Laws• Constitution left definition to states• 1830s -- most white males• Black enfranchisement– 1870 15th Amendment to Constitution3Struggle for Black Suffrage• Reconstruction (1867-1877)• Violence, intimidation, legal restrictions• Civil rights movement in 1950s & 1960s1963 Birmingham AlabamaRegistering to Vote in Alabama in 1960• 4-page registration form• Literacy test• Official discretionSource: Veterans of the Civil Rights MovementAlabama Literacy Testhttp://www.crmvet.org/info/litapp.htmAlabama Literacy Test in 1960• Part A – Read and write passage from Constitution• Parts B & C: – Two 4-item information testsRead & Write Constitution• Constitutional passage 1• “No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.”4Constitutional Passage 2• “No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisals; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.”Alabama Literacy Test: Part B• 1. What body can try impeachments of the president of the United States?• 2. Check the applicable definition for responsibility:– __ a duty– __ a speech– __ a failure• 3. Name the attorney general of the United States.• 4. Women may now serve on juries in Alabama State courts?Alabama Literacy Test: Part C• 1. If a person charged with treason denies his guilt, how many persons must testify against him before he can be convicted?• 2. At what time of day on January 20 each four years does the term of the president of the United States end?• 3. If the president does not wish to sign a bill, how many days is he allowed in which to return it to Congress for reconsideration?• 4. If a bill is passed by Congress and the President refuses to sign it and does not send it back to Congress in session within the specified period of time, is the bill defeated or does it become law?Voting Rights• 1964 24th Amendment – prohibit poll taxes• 1965 Voting Rights Act – eliminate literacy tests5Change in Registration Rates020406080100AB GA LA MS NC SC VABlack White020406080100AB GA LA M S NC SC VABlack WhiteRegistration Rates: 1965Registration Rates: 1988Source: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_c.htmChanging Suffrage Laws• 1920 19th Amendment women suffrage• 1924 American Indian voting law• 1961 23rd Amendment DC presidential vote• 1971 26th Amendment 18-year-old voteChanges in Turnout Rates• Enactment of registration laws• Expansion of suffrage, wars, realignments• Changes in demographics• Declining trust in governmentTurnout in On & Off Year Elections0102030405060708090182818401852186418761888190019121924193619481960197219841996Source: Stanley & Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics 1999-2000United States Elections Project, http://elections.gmu.edu/voter_turnout.htm6Turnout in 2004 Presidential ElectionSource: Dave Leip’s Atlas of US Presidential Elections,http://www.uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/data.php?year=2004&datatype=national&def=vto&f=0Who Votes in Arizona010203040506070MenWomenLatinoBlackWhite18-2425-4445-6465 plusSource: 1996 Election, U.S. Bureau of the CensusWho is more likely to vote• EDUCATION •AGE • ATTITUDES– Sense of civic duty – Believe government officials respond to public– EfficacyReasons Given for Not Voting• Too busy (21%)• Illness/emergency (15%)• Not interested (12%)• Out of town (10%)• Don’t like candidates (8%)• Registration problems (7%)• Forgot (4%)• Inconvenient (3%)• Transportation problems (2%)• Weather (1%)• U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Nov. 20007Summary: Social-Psychological Model of TurnoutEducationAgeEfficacyGovernmentResponsiveCivic DutyPartisanIntensityTurnoutIs It Rational to Vote?• Benefits– Care which party (candidate) wins– Probability that one vote matters•Costs– Decision costs– Tangible costsParticipation Beyond VotingInactives23%Contacters4%Voting Only23%Communalists22%Campaigners16%Complete