Political Participation and Voting Chapter 8 Lecture 7 Jaymie Ticknor Political Science 1050 Sect 002 4 March 2014 Political Participation primary focus tends to be on voting yet there are other forms of participation contacting government officials contributing resources to a public campaign signing a petition and protest Why Vote believing your vote will make a significant difference in the outcome big difference when smaller population matters more however always make some difference big or small mind set important voting when others do not vote Benefits do you expect to gain have voice heard even if not direct civic responsibility Other reasons why you choose to vote keep other candidate out of office Calculating Voter Turnout Rates turnout rate may differ depending on calculation numerator is always the total number of people that voted Denominator is what matters VAP voting age population all residents who are age 18 or older bigger number VEP voting eligible population excludes non citizens felons and includes eligible overseas voters gives larger fraction tries to correct problems in VAP Rational Calculus of Voting Vote B x P C D B Benefits of having your candidate win policies that you care about are P Probability of your vote making a difference in outcome pretty low higher in enacted competitive states or districts C Cost D Civic Duty social pressure Cost of Voting costs to vote are greatest barrier to participation institutional rules school and work and personal feelings toward voting factors Costs in U S explain difference in voter turnout between the U S and other developed countries institutional costs we have to bare can discourage engagement Registration registration is automatic in many countries citizens automatically listed as being added to the registration list in U S voter registration is voluntary 30 percent of Americans are not registered motor voter law allowed citizens to register at DMV limited impact Compulsory Voting some countries penalize citizens for not voting Australia fines nonvoters Nations with compulsory voting have 15 higher turnout rates than nations without it Right solution to increase turnout in the United States force people to vote Mobilization get out the vote GOTV efforts inform citizens about candidates and issues lowers the cost of voting ot citizens lower mobilization lower turnout American parties have decreased their GOTV efforts weaker mobilization efforts have decreased turnout by 10 to 15 percent Other Institutional Barriers Americans vote more frequently throughout the year than other countries Primaries Midterms Local elections Voters must vote at particular polling stations higher cost of voting Institutional Costs registration voter ID Tuesdays nations with non work election day have 24 higher turnout rates than nations without such days 18 or older requirement non compulsory voting less mobilization frequency of voting attached to polling station vote in district employees proportion to district population voter fraud Personal Costs time gas money distance age work school ability to bear costs of voting strength of their civic duty how often are targets of mobilization highly educated voters more likely to show up to polls than less educated voters higher socioeconomic status is associated with higher turnout rates How Do Voters Decide party identification tends to be stable over time strong partisans are more likely to vote party ID helps voter simplify their stances on issues Occasionally political events shape party affiliations Southern realignment Southern states were a solid Democratic voting bloc since mid 1800s change after passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 now the South is a solid Republican voting bloc Issue voters focus on issue over every other issue and performance Retrospective Voting judging candidates based on alignment between voter s and candidates position on issues past Prospective Voting judging candidates and parties based on what one thinks they will do when in office future Candidate characteristics attractiveness regional attachment of candidate personal background race and gender religious affiliation