POLS 1101 Lecture 18 Outline of Last Lecture I Fundamental Information Lack of Knowledge and Apathy II Fundamental Attitudes A Ideology B Partisanship III Party Identification 1952 2012 Responds to economy presidential approval IV How volatile is opinion A Opinion on Immigration V 1 B Opinion on Immigration V 2 V Opinion and Major Events Support for Nuclear Power VI Priming and Framing Public Support for Offshore Drilling VII Opinion as a Thermostat Defense Spending VIII Presidential Approval Rating Four Causes Role in Elections Policy Outline of Current Lecture I Participation and Democratic Politics II Paradox of Voting III Costs of Voting IV Mitigating Costs of Voting V Costs of Participation Current Lecture I Participation and Democratic Politics o Democracy is based on popular sovereignty rule of the people Voting is central to democracy if we don t vote we don t have a say Voting is not the sole form of political participation o Writing letters attending rallies donating money are all forms of participation II Paradox of Voting from an individual perspective it is not rational to vote it does not fulfill you interests but it s critical to democracy Radio Spot of Sept 13 1971 to encourage youth voting in 1972 presidential election 26th amendment ratified in 1971 Lowered to 18 DRAFT thing too Aimed to raise voter turnout trying to get people to register and vote Said you could have an effect on the outcome Voting is a collective dilemma individuals have self interested behavior to vote but want the government to go there way leads to free rider problem o Democracy based on voting o Costs of voting outweigh the benefits Registering to vote information gathering going to the polling place o Probability of one vote being critical is infinitesimally small 0 5 chance critical overall with states except FL OH Ohio FL 25 chance they re be critical overall with states No motivation III Costs of Voting Voter registration o Closing date Information gathering o Few Americans are well informed about politics and government Most informed for presidential election Least informed for congress members Going to the polling place o Long lines IV Mitigating Costs of Voting lowering the cost making it easier Motor Voter law 1993 o Register when renewing license registration o States are mandated to offer to register people to vote when they get their license o Increased the level of people registered o Increased voting slim o Under Clinton admin Help America Vote Act of 2002 o Replaced outdated voting technology o Butterfly ballot complicated take a metal stick and punch a hole in the card next to the candidate you wanted o Under Bush admin o Created grants mandates that all precincts update their voter technology technology touch screen and bubble sheets o Lowers cost of voting Early voting voting by mail o Expands number of days one can vote MAY 20th primaries for governor for GA V Costs of Participation Other forms of participation are also costly o Writing letters o Donating money o Attending meetings People who are educated experienced with forms and group members find these less costly