(no subject)

[kashmirdreamer]

thank you annie!


Chapter 6
I. A Closer Look at Nonvoting

a. Relatively low percentage of adults are registered to vote
b. Motor-voter law: law that requires states to allow people to register to vote when applying for driver’s licenses and to provide registration through mail and at some state offices that serve disabled or provide public assistance (like welfare checks); took effect in 1995
c. Voting only one way of participating

i. can also join civic associations support social movements, write to legislators, and fight city hall- by these measures, Americans participate more than most Europeans or anyone else

d. low rates of registration may indicate that people are well satisfied with how country is governed

II. Rise of the American Electorate

a. From State to Federal Control

i. Keeping blacks from voting

1. Had to take literacy test
2. required a poll tax
3. to allow illiterate whites to vote, grandfather clause added to the law- declared unconstitutional in 1915; white primary fell in 1944

ii. Voting Rights Act 1965

1. suspended use of literacy tests
2. authorized apt of federal examiners who could order registration of blacks in states and counties (mostly in South) where fewer than 50% of voting age population were registered or had voted in last presidential election
3. provided criminal penalties for interfering with right to vote

iii. women kept from voting polls by intimidation
iv. Voting Rights Act of 1970

1. gave 18-year-olds right to vote in Jan. 1, 1971
2. 26th Amendment

v. 23rd Amendment gave right to vote to residents of D.C.

b. Voter Turnout

i. Australian Ballot 1890- gov’t-printed ballot cast in secret to replace old party-printed ballots

III. Who Participates in Politics?

a. Forms of Participation

i. Activists 11% of population (1/9)- highly educated, wealthy, middle-aged
ii. Voting specialists- people who vote but do little else; not much schooling or income; older
iii. Campaigners- vote and get involved in campaign activities; better-educated; interests in conflicts, passions, and struggle of politics; clear identification with political party
iv. Communalists- don’t like tension and conflict of partisan campaigns; tend to reserve energy for community activities of nonpartisan nature
v. Parochial participants- don’t vote, stay out of election campaigns and civic associations, but are willing to contact local officials about specific, often personal problems

b. Causes of Participation

i. More schooling, more likely to vote
ii. Religious involvement increases political participation
iii. Blacks participate more than whites
iv. Turnout has decreased due to lack of trust in gov’t- perhaps, but not really
v. Political parties no longer as effective in getting people to vote
vi. Nonvoters more likely to be poor, black or Hispanic or uneducated

c. The Meaning of Participation Rates

i. Americans may be voting less, but are participating more
ii. Turnout in U.S. skewed toward higher-status persons- those in professional managerial and other white-collar occupations are overrepresented by voters
iii. Nonwhites and Latinos are fastest growing segment of U.S. pop, but are most underrepresented among Amer voters