POLS 1101 Lecture 18Outline of Last Lecture I. Fundamental Information: Lack of Knowledge and ApathyII. Fundamental AttitudesA. IdeologyB. PartisanshipIII. Party Identification, 1952-2012: Responds to economy & presidential approvalIV. How volatile is opinion?A. Opinion on Immigration, V. 1B. Opinion on Immigration, V. 2V. Opinion and Major Events: Support for Nuclear PowerVI. Priming and Framing: Public Support for Offshore DrillingVII. Opinion as a Thermostat: Defense SpendingVIII. Presidential Approval Rating: Four Causes / Role in Elections & PolicyOutline of Current Lecture I. Participation and Democratic PoliticsII. Paradox of VotingIII. Costs of VotingIV. Mitigating Costs of VotingV. Costs of ParticipationCurrent Lecture: I. Participation and Democratic Politicso 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 participationo Writing letters, attending rallies, donating money are all forms of participationII. 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 problemo Democracy based on votingo 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 motivationIII. Costs of Voting- Voter registrationo Closing date- Information gatheringo Few Americans are well-informed about politics and government- Most informed for presidential election- Least informed for congress members?- Going to the polling placeo Long linesIV. Mitigating Costs of Voting (lowering the cost/making it easier)- Motor Voter law (1993)o Register when renewing license/registrationo States are mandated to offer to register people to vote when they get their licenseo Increased the level of people registered o Increased voting: slimo Under Clinton admin.- Help America Vote Act of 2002o Replaced outdated voting technologyo 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 sheetso Lowers cost of voting- Early voting/voting by mailo Expands number of days one can vote: MAY 20th primaries for governor for GAV. Costs of Participation- Other forms of participation are also costlyo Writing letterso Donating moneyo Attending meetings- People who are educated, experienced with forms, and group members find these less