AP US Gov Political Participation Notes

Chapter 6

2/14/12

I.               History of voting- expansion of suffrage

A.             Voting in 1789

1.             Only property holders or tax payers could vote

2.             Women, blacks, and poor farmers couldn’t vote

3.             High voting turnout

4.             Voted for less offices- only voted directly for the House on the national level

B.             In the 1820s (Jackson) all white men got the right to vote

C.            15^th amendment- 1870

1.             National government got involved to extend suffrage

2.             Gave black men the right to vote

D.            Southern states still found ways to deny blacks the right to vote

1.             The 15^th amendment was interpreted that you can’t deny someone the right to vote based on race, but there are other ways to deny the right to vote

2.             Literacy Test

a)             You have to take a test to vote

b)             The test was a complicated test on US government, so most blacks were either illiterate or just couldn’t pass

3.             Poll Tax

a)             Had to pay a tax to vote

b)             Blacks were poor, so they couldn’t pay the tax

4.             Grandfather Clause

a)             If you have ancestors that voted before 1867, you have the right to vote

b)             This was for white people who couldn’t pass the literacy test or pay the poll tax

5.             White primary

a)             Only whites could vote in primaries

b)             This could not be restricted by the government because the primaries were run by the parties themselves, not the government

6.             Intimidation

E.             Voting Rights Act 1965

1.             Assured that all black people would get the right to vote

2.             Sent federal officials to southern states to supervise elections to make sure blacks could register and vote safely

3.             Poll tax, literacy test, and white primary were all eliminated

F.             19^th amendment- 1920

1.             Gave women the right to vote

2.             Some women had the right to vote before 1920 because some states gave women the right to vote

a)             Western states were the ones who gave women the right to vote because women settled that land with the men

3.             The turnout after women got the vote stayed the same, and did not favor one party over the other

G.            26^th amendment- 1971

1.             Eighteen year olds got the right to vote

2.             Some had the right to vote before the amendment because some states allowed 18 year olds to vote

3.             This also did not have such a big influence on changing voting

4.             Even though they vote in low numbers, 18-20 year olds participate politically in other ways

2/15/12

II.              Voter Turnout- why are our numbers lower than in other countries?

A.             Registration system

1.             It is harder to register here.  In other countries you are registered automatically, but in America you have to do the work by yourself

a)             If registration was easier, turnout would be higher

2.             Motor-Voter Bill 1993

a)             When you register for a driver’s license you can also register to vote

(1)           You can do it in the mail

(2)           Basically made it easier to sign up

b)             Republicans were against it

(1)           Thought it would be mostly minorities who sign up, and their votes would go to the Democrats

c)             Increased the number of Independents.  Did not hurt either party

d)             This law did not really impact turnout or change elections

B.             People like to participate in other ways

1.             We may not vote in the same numbers as other countries, but we are very politically active in other ways

C.            Turnout was higher in the 1800s and early 1900s.  Why has it gone down?

1.             There is not a real decline because back then it was easier to have fraud and cheat the system.  Nowadays, there is no cheating because we have secret ballots, and elections are supervised closely

2.             Voter turnout has declined because back then political parties motivated people to vote.  But now the parties are weaker and less involved because of areas that are solidified as supporting a certain party

D.            Other countries vote on weekends, which is easier for people to vote

E.             Voting rates have gone down, but other means of participation is going up

2/16/12

III.            POV on voter turnout

A.             Lijphart

1.             Low voter turnout is bad

a)             Low voter turnout is a sign that only certain groups are voting, and those groups will have more control over the government (white, high income, educated)

b)             If only 25% of the population picked Clinton as president, do we really have a true democracy?  If such a low percentage of people vote, then we don’t have a true democracy/ representative government

2.             Ways to increase turnout

a)             Weekend voting

b)             Making registration easier (but this can make fraud more likely)

c)             All elections on one day

d)             Easy access to absentee ballots

e)             Proportional representation- more people would vote because they would feel that their vote counts more

3.             Compulsory voting is the best way to increase turnout

a)             If you don’t vote, you are fined by the government

(1)           Fines are usually very small, and government cannot strictly enforce it

b)             Compulsory voting can also help our political system

(1)           Reduce the influence of money in politics- political parties spend a lot of money to get people to vote, so if people are going to be fined if they don’t vote they will be pressured to vote, and political parties won’t need to try as hard to get people to vote

(2)           Reduce negative advertising.  These ads are used to get people to vote, but if people are forced to vote the campaigns won’t feel the need to run negative ads

c)             Isn’t it undemocratic to force people to vote?

(1)           Government forces you to do things already- drafted to the army, pay taxes, jury duty

(2)           No one can force you to cast a valid ballot, you can just be forced to show up.  Once you’re in the booth, it’s a secret ballot so no one will know if you voted or not

d)             Compulsory voting is an extension of universal suffrage

B.             Ranney

1.             It’s not bad that voter turnout is low, as long as it is voluntary non voting (people choose not to vote)

a)             People who don’t vote have the same ideas as voters.  They have the same policy preferences as voters

b)             Nonvoters are not cynical of the government

c)             When nonvoters suddenly vote, there are no major shifts

2.             Is nonvoting a reflection of poor civic health (people don’t like government)?

a)             It might seem that way, but according to studies there is not real evidence that nonvoting is a sign of poor civic health

b)             People participate in other ways- those numbers are going up

3.             Forcing people to vote offends the values of democracy

4.             Ways to increase turnout (without compulsory voting)

a)             Easier registration

b)             Get rid of involuntary nonvoting (people being denied to vote- felons, bad day/time to vote, long lines at polls)

c)             Mobilize voters through private organizations/ civic groups- educate people about voting to get more people to vote

IV.