POLS 207 2nd Edition Lecture 6 Outline of Last 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 Outline of Current Lecture I Gerrymandering II Definition of Political Participation III Types and Frequencies of Political Participation by American Citizens IV Participation in the US and Texas Compared to Other Nations a motor voter law V Types of Political Participants VI Participation Factors in Texas Politics a Historical Legacies Social and Economic Factors Party Competition Region Culture VII Requirements for Voting in Texas VIII How to lose your right to vote in Texas IX Reading Homework Chapter 4 Section Protest as Political Participation Current Lecture Reading Reminder for Test Today read Chp 4 Section Protest as Political Participation 146 150 Previous readings o Chp 1 Section Policy Responsibilities in State and Communities 24 28 o Chp 2 Section Politics of State Initiatives o Chp 3 Section Variations on the Theme of Federalism 95 101 How to prepare for the exam 80 90 covered in class notes 10 20 textbook reading Gerrymandering in a Racial Context Gerrymandering the way district lines are drawn either to discriminate or help minority groups Two Types Packing and Cracking to be discussed more later Topic Political Participation political participation taking part in activities that are related to governance broad umbrella of activities focused a lot on voting now going to focus on alternate ways to participate in politics Types and Frequency of Participation by American Citizens LEAST common to MOST common be able to put in order on test 1 running for public office 1 2 becoming active in political parties and campaigns 4 5 a making phone calls going door to door 3 contributing money to campaigns 10 4 wearing a button or putting a bumper sticker on car 15 5 writing or calling a public official 17 20 6 belonging to a political organization 30 33 a belonging to an interest group 7 talking to others about politics 30 35 8 voting 30 50 a depends on which type of election presidential election state governor election etc 9 not participating 30 45 Political Participation in US and Texas Compared to Other Nations Voting at the national level is lower than in most other industrialized nations Participation in state politics is lower than in most other industrialized nations In the US participation in state politics is lower than at the national level lowest at the local level o participation goes down from national state local elections o people seem to be the least concerned about participating in local elections which actually deals with a lot of issues such as education police etc In the US voter turnout in Texas ranks near the bottom 46nd 48th in both national state elections o Texas is not the lowest but very low motor voter law o the US government passed the motor voter law which requires states to allow you to register to vote when you get your driver s license if you are qualified o federal government s attempt to expand voter registration o passed to get more people to vote to make it easier to vote hoping for increased voting rates o Although it positively impacted voter registration there is no clear effect on voter turnout rates Types of Participants Verba and Nie Typology Inactives do not participate do not vote are not concerned take no part in politics Voting specialists mostly only vote beyond voting they are not involved Parochial participants become active only when an issue has a direct effect on them voting writing letters getting involved in local campaigns only when the issue directly affects them Campaigners motivated by the competitive nature of partisan campaigns like the idea of us v them democrats v republicans going to be active in campaigns making phone calls etc Communalists don t like competition of partisan campaigns still likely to vote but do not participate in partisan politics involved in community through non competitive activities like Habitat for Humanity Little League sports Food Banks etc Complete activists vote and are involved in campaigns and community in every way Participation Factors in Texas Politics In general voting rates in Texas are substantially below the national average typically somewhere in the 40s as compared to the rest of the states Reasons Why Participation Rates are So Low in Texas o 1 Historical Legacies from Reconstruction to mid 1900s Texas had a system to discourage people from voting especially minority voting by making participation difficult in the past it left a lasting impact on participation today White Primary example of a historical legacy that overtime diminished voting Poll Taxes limited participation Test Question Literacy Tests were never used in Texas without federal intervention Texas and other southern states would probably still have restrictions past the 1960s o 2 Social and Economic Factors education levels income levels etc minorities have lower voting rates than national average Texas has a high percentage of minorities Anglos are actually less than 50 of population which is part of the reason Texas has a lower rate than national average o 3 Party Competition strong party competition and not knowing who is going to win excites voters In TX almost always know who is going to win so it is hard to excite both supporters and opponents to vote o 4 Region TX is in the Southern region a region comprised of the lowest voting rates Southern states dominate the 40s as compared to all other states the effects of region capture the political culture of the south traditionalistic culture discourages mass participation made it harder to vote Requirements for voting in Texas 1 Be 18 years of age 2 Be registered 30 days before the election 3 Be a US citizen 4 Texas similar to 32 other states allows registration by mail What can individual who is qualified to vote in Texas do to lose the right to vote today Be a convicted felon As long as somebody is serving their time for a felony crime they
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