POLS 207 2nd Edition Lecture 5 Outline of Current Lecture I Federalism In Relationship with the States a State to State Interactions i Full Faith and Credit Clause of the US Constitution ii Interstate Privileges and Immunities iii Extradition II Participation in State Politics III Voting and Its 6 Factors a Irrationality Education Socio economic Status Efficacy Registration Requirements and Party Competition IV Minority Voting Patterns V Tactics in Limiting Minority Participation a White Primary Poll Taxes Literacy Tests VI Eliminating Barriers VII Reading Homework Chapter 3 Section Federalism Variations On the Theme Current Lecture Wrapping Up Federalism Discussing Participation in State Politics Federalism In Relationship with the States Vertical Federalism o higher to lower level federal government down to the states Horizontal Federalism o Interactions between the 50 different state governments throughout the country o Horizontal Federalism refers to the rules and guidelines that guide interactions between and among these states Some of the basic state to state interactions include o Full Faith and Credit Clause of the US Constitution states have to recognize the public records of other states as valid birth certificates court proceedings crime conviction marriage certificates o Interstate Privileges and Immunities states have to grant the same privileges and immunities to citizens as the government states cannot discriminate against people from other states states cannot treat people from other states differently largely meant to protect people s full rights and prevent discriminatory treatments example no discriminatory taxes However states can impose residency requirements in giving benefits may require residency of people who receive welfare benefits from that state in state versus out of state college tuition o Extradition when somebody commits a crime in one state the person cannot flee to another state because that state has a responsibility to return them to the state where the crime was committed Topic Participation In State Politics Participation in state politics can involve several different things o belong to an interest group be involved in campaigns talk to others about politics etc o among the broad range of activities the major form of participation is voting Voting and It s 6 Factors voting is not that demanding of a form of political participation yet voting rates are very low in the US compared to other countries o What are some factors that might explain the failure in voting keep in mind the highest voting rates are about 50 for presidential elections as compared to other countries which have about 80 1st Factor Voting is irrational o for something to be rational the benefits should be greater than the costs o costs associated with voting takes some time to go to a voting location some time researching the candidates and following the news etc o benefits associated with voting help determine the outcome of the election What are the chances that my vote determines the election not much chances are my 1 vote won t change the election so I don t actually have a benefit What makes those 50 of people vote then mostly civic duty 2nd Factor Education o the higher the level of education the more likely somebody is to vote o education is one of the strongest predictors of who votes o Why Those with higher education may feel a higher sense of civic duty voting means you have to take in information about candidates and make a decision which includes skills learned through education education makes people more adept at making decisions rd 3 Factor Socio economic status o the higher somebody s income level the more likely he or she is to vote o people working in white collar jobs doctor lawyer engineer are more likely to vote o Why These people earn more money pay more income taxes have more at stake in terms of financial resources by who is elected more aware of politics people in higher jobs also have to be more adept at making decisions 4th Factor Low political efficacy political alienation o efficacy whether people feel that they have a say in the political system whether they feel important whether they feel influential does government care about you o low political efficacy don t think the gov cares about you don t think you have any influence in system feel politically alienated so less likely to vote if feel it won t make a difference explains why many people don t vote but also explains low voting rights by minority groups th 5 Factor Registration requirements o US ranks lower in voting turn out compared to other countries o o o o one reason is because we must register to vote in order to actually vote in many countries your national ID signifies your right to vote the whole separate process takes extra little bit of effort which drives some people away each state has their own registration requirements Wisconsin you can register on the day of the election Texas must register 30 days prior to election th 6 Factor Party competition o party competition is why some states have better voting turn out rates than other states when party competition is high voter turnout will be higher when party competition is low voter turnout is likely to be low o high party competition means don t really know which party is going to win in that state so people participate if it is close to try to change the outcome of the election o if party competition is low then already know who is pretty much going to win so don t feel the need to vote because won t change the outcome Minority Voting Patterns Increasingly minority groups especially African Americans have become more active voters in the last 50 years although their participation rates are still lower than those of whites The 1800s through mid 1900s was an era in which politicians primarily in the south used various schemes to keep minorities from voting in elections US Constitution amendment guaranteeing equal voting rights but politicians still found schemes Tactics Limiting Minority Participation The White Primary o required the person to be white to participate in the primary thus excluding African Americans from the democratic primary o How did they get away with that US Supreme Court interpreted the primary as a private party tool so declared that the party Republic Democrat etc could decide its own primary rules did not exclude African Americans from voting in the general election only the primary but excluding them
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