Participation and voting

1
Participation and voting

• Chapter 7

2
(No Transcript)
3
Democracy Political Participation

• Democratic ideal is government run by the
  people
• Difficulty lies with definitions of how much and
  what kind of participation needed
• Direct democracy versus democracy carried out by
  representatives
• Elections are necessary for democracy, but do not
  ensure democracy

4
Political Participation

• All citizen activities that attempt to INFLUENCE
  governments structure, selection of officials,
  or policies
• Conventional participation
• Unconventional participation

5
Unconventional Participation

• Can range from protest marches to
• 
  terrorist activities
• Bloody Sunday March from Selma, AL, to
  Montgomery, AL in 1965
• 1995 bombing of Oklahoma Citys Federal Building
  by Timothy McVeigh
• Terrorist attacks on New York City and
  Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001

6
Unconventional Participation
7
Support for Unconventional Participation

• Boston Tea Party in 1773 first of many violent
  protests
• Most Americans not willing to participate in
  unconventional political activities
• Sometimes difficult to define which activities
  fall under heading of unconventional political
  participation

8
Figure 7.1What Americans Think Is Conventional
Behavior
9
(No Transcript)
10
The Effectiveness of Unconventional Participation

• Unconventional participation is not always
  successful, even when violent
• Direct action appeals most to persons who
  distrust the political system and have a strong
  sense of political efficacy
• Participation also depends on an individuals
• group consciousness
• Americans about as likely to participate as
  citizens of other nations

11
The Effectiveness of Unconventional Participation
12
Conventional Participation

• Practical test for democracy can citizens
  influence policies by acting through its
  institutions?
• Two major categories for conventional
  participation
• 1) Supportive behavior
• 2) Influencing behavior

13
Compared with What? Popular Participation in
Politics
14
Supportive Behavior

• Actions that express allegiance to country and
  government
• Require various levels of effort
• Sometimes actions an individual sees as
  supportive actually suppress democracy

15
Influencing Behavior

• Some types of behavior seek benefits others have
  broad policy objectives
• Particular benefits - those that benefit self,
• immediate family, or friends
• Very common at local level, especially
  contacting behavior may require little
  initiative
• More common with those of higher socioeconomic
  status
• Sometimes done quietly

16
Influencing Behavior continued

• Campaign contributions also on this list
• Broad Policy Objectives activities that
  influence selection of government officials and
  policies
• Also require different levels of initiative
• Voting, running for office, holding meetings,
  working on campaigns, attending hearings, or
  using the court system

17
The Twitter Revolution
18
Influencing Behavior

• Citizens who want to participate can do so via
  the Internet
• Comment on proposed rules and regulations at the
  Federal Register site http//www.gpoaccess.gov/f
  r/
• Track economic stimulus funds at
  http//www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx
• View congressional voting records
  http//www.govtrack.us/ or http//www.thomas.gov/
  
• Many other political sites available for wide
  range of interests

19
Influencing Behavior
20
Conventional Participation in America

• Usually only those with a stake in the outcome
  take initiative to participate in Congressional
  or administrative hearings
• Most common form of political behavior is voting
• Rate of voting is voter turnout
• U.S. voter turnout low compared to other
  industrialized democracies

21
Participating Through Voting

• Electoral process heart of democratic government
• Rules for suffrage, or franchise, and rules for
  counting ballots and electoral systems define
  process
• Who can vote
• How much each vote counts
• How many votes needed to win
• No nation has universal suffrage

22
Expansion of Suffrage

• U.S. first to hold mass elections, but suffrage
  limited by states
• Initially only landowners or taxpayers
• By 1850s, all working-class males
• Suffrage for blacks and women took longer

23
The Enfranchisement of Blacks

• Even with passage of Fifteenth Amendment after
  Civil War, some states resisted
• Poll taxes, literacy tests, white primary, and
  violence all deterrents
• Supreme Court rulings supporting black suffrage
  began with Smith v. Allwright (1944) later
  Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections
  (1966)
• Voting Rights Act of 1965

24
Figure 7.2Voter Registration in the South, 1960,
1980, and 2000
25
The Enfranchisement of Women

• Women could not vote anywhere in world until 1869
• First to grant women vote in U.S.
• Wyoming Territory in 1869
• Equal Rights Party formed in 1884
• Women gained national right to vote in 1920 with
  Nineteenth Amendment

26
The Fight for Womens Suffrageand Against It
27
Evaluating the Expansion of Suffrage in America

• Last major expansion was
• 26th Amendment in 1971
• Lowered voting age to 18
• Though process towards generally universal
  suffrage slow, U.S. still ahead of many other
  countries, including other democracies

28
Voting on Policies

• Political power comes with suffrage
• Progressivism flourished from 1900 to 1925
  proposed several electoral changes
• Direct primary
• Recall
• Referendum
• Initiative
• Not clear if these opportunities improve policies
  made by elected representatives

29
Figure 7.3Westward Ho!
30
Voting for Candidates

• Serves democratic government two ways
• Voters can choose candidate they think will best
  represent their interests
• Voting allows citizens to re-elect candidates or
  vote them out of office
• U.S. government has few elected officials
  compared to state and local governments
• U.S. has more frequent and varied elections than
  any other country in the world but lower voter
  turnout than many

31
The Growth of Electoral Democracy
32
Explaining Political Participation

• Political participation can be
• Conventional or unconventional
• Require little or require much initiative
• Serve to support government or influence its
  decisions
• People who participate in one way may not
  participate in others

33
Patterns of Political Participation Over Time

• Generally, Americans participation is stable
  over time
• Socioeconomic status a good indicator of most
  types of participation
• Income
• Education (most important)
• Occupation
• Age, race, and gender also important

34
Figure 7.4Effects of Education on Political
Participation
35
Low Voter Turnout in America

• Difficult to explain decline in voter turnout in
  America
• 26th Amendment (younger voters tend not to vote)
• Belief that government no longer responsive to
  citizens
• Change in attitude about political parties
• Register to vote at Rock the Vote
  http//www.rockthevote.com/

36
Figure 7.5The Decline of Voter Turnout An
Unsolved Puzzle
37
U.S. Turnout Versus Turnout in Other Countries

• Differences in voting laws and administrative
  machinery affect voter turnout in the U.S.
• Tuesday Election Day not a public holiday
• Burdensome registration procedures
• Political parties not tied to certain groups
• Most elections not particularly competitive
• Large number of elections and candidates means
  difficult for voters to educate selves

38
Participation and Freedom, Equality, Order

• Participation and freedom key in
• normative theory
• Citizens free to participate when and how they
  want (or not)
• Citizens free to use personal resources
• to pursue any legal means to influence
  government decisions

39
Participation and Freedom, Equality, and Order

• Participation and equality requires that each
  citizens ability to influence government be
  equal to every other citizen
• Differences in resources should not matter
• Elections serve ideal of equality best
• Groups can band together to increase influence

40
Participation and Freedom, Equality, Order

• Relationship between participation order is
• complicated
• Some types of participation promote order
  others, disorder
• Political system more threatened by
  unconventional participation
• 26th Amendment effort to bring order to
• Vietnam War protests

41
Participation Models of Democracy

• Elections implement democracy by allowing
  citizens to choose among candidates and issues
• Elections socialize political activity
• Elections institutionalize access to political
  power
• Elections bolster the states power and authority