Chapter 8 Key Concepts: Political Participation
Suffrage – The right to vote.
Control of voting laws — Constitution vests states with power over time, place, and manner of elections,
subject to Congressional override. States do NOT have power to impose term limits on members of
Congress, thanks to U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1994).
Voter registration – System designed to reduce voter fraud by limiting voting to those who have
established eligibility to vote by submitting the proper documents.
Voting Age Population (VAP) — Citizens who are old enough to vote (i.e., 18 years old).
Voting-Eligible Population (VEP) — Citizens who are old enough to vote AND are not disqualified due to
mental incapacity or felony record. A subset of VAP. “Registered” voters will be an even smaller subset.
Motor Voter Law – (a/k/a the National Voter Registration Act of 1993) Requires that people be allowed to
register to vote when they get/renew their driver’s license or apply for social services. Registration via mail
also accepted.
Political efficacy – Believing that your actions can help shape policies.
Political participation – Voting the #1 way people choose to participate. Other ways to do so include
writing letters to or calling politicians, campaigning, running for office, contributing $ to candidates, etc.
Who votes – Educated, rich, older people, women, union members, political activists. 18-24 year-olds are
least likely to vote of any age group.
• Education is seen by many as the strongest predictor of whether you vote.
• Your party affiliation is the #1 predictor of how you’ll vote (so, for instance, if you register as a
Republican, you’re very likely to vote for the Republican candidates). (Don’t confuse this with
socialization; your parents are the #1 influence on your political views, which in turn leads to your
political party.)
Why people don’t vote – Assuming no legal disqualification (see above), people don’t vote for a variety of
reasons, including dislike of candidates, negative campaigns, too many elections, lack of party
identification, mistrust in gov’t, apathy, lack of political efficacy, voter registration difficulties, weekday/
non-holiday voting, decline of political parties and their get-out-the-vote efforts, etc.
Turnout rates – Rate at which registered voters vote. While reported turnout is lower today than in the
19th century, actual turnout may not be that much lower; there may have been more things like ballot-box
stuffing and other irregularities back then. The use of the Australian ballot has helped the accuracy of the
vote.
Ways to improve turnout rates — Include national holiday, voting on weekends, more days to vote,
voting by mail, mandatory voting (either tax break or penalty), open primaries (where anyone can vote),
etc.
Australian ballot – A ballot designed to reduce voter fraud. Has 4 main components: (1) printed at
government’s expense (as opposed to a party’s); (2) all names in the race are on the ballot (as opposed to
just one party’s candidates); (3) ballot is handed out at the polls (as opposed to at work, union hall, etc.);
and (4) it is filled out in secret (as opposed to having, e.g., your boss be with you when you vote).
Office-group ballot — All candidates for a particular office are listed together, regardless of party.
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Party column ballot — All candidates of a particular party are listed together for each office. Encourages
“straight-ticket” voting.
Straight-ticket voting – Voting for all of the candidates from the same party.
Split-ticket voting – Voting for candidates from different parties when multiple offices are being contested
during the same election. Ex: voting for Republican candidate for president but Democratic candidate for
Senator.
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) — A response to the debacle of 2000 presidential election (Bush v. Gore).
Requires electronic voting, more training for poll workers, better computerized voter ID recorsd, and
provisional voting.
Provisional voting — Letting someone vote despite questions about eligibility and then resolving later
whether to count the ballot.
Significance of low turnout rates – Some say they don’t matter. May just reflect satisfaction with the
status quo, or perhaps a reflection of how many elections we have. Others see this as a source of concern.
Disenfranchisement — Denying someone the right to vote. Permissible grounds: too young, mentally
incapacitated, imprisoned for committing certain felonies. Impermissible grounds involve the following:
Grandfather clause – This exempted people from certain voter eligibility requirements if their
ancestors had the right to vote before the Civil War. It was a way to have high barriers that only
whites could cross. Outlawed in Guinn v. U.S. (1915) (sometimes referred to as Guinn v. OK).
Literacy test – A test of a person’s ability to read and knowledge of certain historical events.
The tests were designed to disenfranchise certain groups, like blacks. Banned by the Voting
Rights Act of 1965.
Poll tax – A payment of money required as a condition of voting. It was another means of
disenfranchising certain groups. Made illegal in federal elections by the 24th Amendment; made
illegal in state elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966).
All-white primary – A primary in which only whites could vote. Smith v. Allwright (1944) held
this to be unconstitutional.
Gerrymandering — Redrawing electoral boundaries to favor a particular group. Permissible if
done to favor a party; impermissible if done to hurt a racial minority (Gomillion v. Lightfoot
(1960)). Technically not disenfranchising, but can used to minimize impact of a vote.
Can’t have “malapportioned” districts (i.e., where one has many more people than
another in the same state) (Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)). Must have roughly equal
districts in order to comply with “one person, one vote” formula of Reynolds v. Sims
(1964).
Districts must be compact, connected, and not disruptive of “communities of interest.”
Packing — Putting many voters for the other party into one district so as to maximize your party’s chances
of winning races in adjacent districts.
Cracking — Splitting voters for the other party into several districts to dilute their impact.
Constitutional amendments affecting voting –
•
15th (slaves)
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•
17th (direct election of Senators)
•
19th (women)
•
23rd (residents of Washington, DC)
•
24th (poll taxes)
•
26th (18 year-olds)
Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Made discrimination in voter registration (among other things) illegal. Another
step in the gradual increase of federal control over elections at the expense of state control.
Voting Rights Act of 1965 – Prohibited discrimination in voting against someone on the basis of race or
color. Included (among other things) the “pre-clearance requirement.”
Pre-clearance requirement – Requires specified states (including Alabama) to obtain clearance from the
Dep’t of Justice before making any changes in the voting procedures. USSC effectively struck this down in
Shelby County v. Holder (2013), saying that Congress would need either (a) to make a case why only
certain states remain subject to it or (b) to apply it to every state if Congress still wanted a pre-clearance
requirement. Thus, while it’s still on the books, it is inoperative until Congress makes required findings.
Six types of citizens –
•
Inactives; rarely vote or otherwise get involved in politics. Typical groups: poorly educated;
young; poor.
•
Voting specialists: vote but no other participation. Poor; older.
•
Campaigners: Vote and get involved in campaigns. Better educated; stronger identification with
a party.
•
Communalists: Nonpartisan community activists with a local focus.
•
Parochial participants: Don’t vote or campaign, but do contact politician about particular issue.
•
Activists: Participate in all forms of political activity. Highly educated; high income; middleaged.
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