Why Elections?Understanding the Importance and

Basics of Elections in American Government

A Few Key Terms We Should Understand Before Moving Forward

• Campaign: the effort taken to win votes in an election

• Election: a mechanism for making collective decisions– Assumes a campaign will be held beforehand

• Citizen: an individual who has both rights and responsibilities in a country

• Politics: process of deciding who gets what, when, and how without resorting to violence

• Constitution: blueprint of the American government; establishes the foundation for American law

Functions of Elections1. Choosing public officials– Provides a voice to citizens in

government– Can also choose who will run

for office (primary) and can remove people from office (recall)

2. Ensuring accountability– Elected representatives must

answer to those they represent• Trustee Model: elected officials

act on behalf of their constituents

• Delegate Model: elected officials act in place of their constituents

Functions of Elections Continued

3. Influencing the direction of policy– Weak Form: elected officials react to popular

demands to increase chance of reelection• Voters have influence, but not control

– Strong Form: candidates are elected based on their proposed agenda

• Once elected, claim they have a mandate to govern

– Initiatives/referendum: citizens vote on legislation

4. Granting legitimacy to government– Help determine who the rightful occupant of

an office is– Maintains the rule of law; lack of violence

over transfer of power

Elections and Themes of American Government

1. Federalism: states vary in their rules and processes, thus creating different scenarios– Federal (national) government has limited control

2. Popular Sovereignty: elected officials are chosen and held responsible by the people

3. Separation of Powers: since we elect members of government in different elections at different times, no single election can fully determine policy

4. Limited Government: government officials are limited in their power and elections have constitutional restrictions, thus reelection is not guaranteed

Elections as an Institution

• Has a set of rules– Laws passed by Congress (examples: Voting Rights

Act, Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act)– Constitution

• Can be reformed– Has evolved over time

• More constitutional amendments deal with elections than any other subject!

• Has structures (Electoral College, Federal Election Commission)

Elections as a Process

• Elections are fluid– Depends on the

actions/decisions of political actors (voters, candidates, media, etc.)• Where to campaign? What

issues to speak on?

• Changes in rules shape who gets elected

• Elections are shaped by current events– Role of the “October Surprise”

Voter and Voter Behavior

• What do I mean by Voter behavior ?

The Right to Vote

• History of Voting Rights• Framers of the Constitution purposely left the

power to set suffrage qualifications to each state.

• **Suffrage – Means the right to vote.• **Franchise – Same meaning as Suffrage.

B. Expansion of the Electorate

1. 1789 Restricted to white male property owners. (Actually only 1 in 15 white males even qualified to vote)2. Today, the size of the American electorate is in the potential voting population (Around 216 million)

C. Two Determining Factors in History

• 1. A gradual elimination of several restrictions based on such factors as religious belief, property ownership, tax payment, race and sex.

• 2. The original idea that states had the reserved power over voting privileges – now gradually given to the federal government

Extending Suffrage: Five stages

• II. Power to Set Voting Qualifications• A. Suffrage qualifications – Reserved

power to the states – Constitution places 5 restrictions on how the states can use that power.

1. Same voters to vote in all elections 2. No state can deprive any person the right to vote on the account of race, color, previous condition of servitude.(15th Amendment)3. No state can deprive any person the right to vote on account of sex. (19th Amendment)4. No State can require payment of any tax as a condition to voting privileges(24th Amendment)

5. No Person can be deprived of voting who is at least the age of 18 years old.• (26th Amendment)• **Literacy can never be a qualification to

vote.**• • **A poll tax can never be required to pay in

order to vote**

III. Voter Behavior

• A. Factors That Influence Voters- What affect voter behavior has social and economic ties:

• • B. Voters personal characteristics – age,

income, occupation, education, religion,etc..

1. Income and Occupation –

• *Below 15,000 a year tend to vote Democrat• *15,000 – 30,000 Democrat• *30,000 – 50,000 Split down the middle.• *50,000 and above tend to vote Republican

2. Education

• *College educated – tend to vote Rep.• *White Collar – tend to vote Rep.• *Blue Collar – tend to vote Democrat• *High School Grads – Democrat

3. Gender

• *Women generally vote for Democrats• **Although the statistics of gender voting are

not a clear picture.• **Men and women are usually split on issues

like health care, abortion, and other social welfare matters

• *Older voter tend to vote Democrat

– ParticipationI. Public Opinion – aggregate of attitudes and opinions of

individuals on a significant issue.A. Survey research. Is public opinion a reliable guide for

lawmaking? Problems:1. Public knowledge of politics (next slide)2. “Halo Effect” – people will lie in accordance with socially

acceptable answers.3. Inconsistencies – e.g. lower taxes and more spending4. Instability – different responses at different times5. Salience – people concentrate on a handful of issues

considered important in their own lives.

Some Reasons People Do Not Vote• Feel confident in the

stability of the system • Difficult to register • Difficult to get off work to

vote • Voting lines are too long • Cynical about politics and

politicians • Feel their vote doesn’t

count much

• Forgot to vote • Too busy • Bad weather conditions • Inconvenient polling

location • Transportation problems • Did not understand

absentee ballot

II. Political Socialization – process by which individuals obtain their beliefs about political values, beliefs and opinions.

A. Sources of socialization:• Family – children usually take on their parents party

identification. *If parents are different, which one?• School – – Civic norms: salute the flag, civics, “good citizenship” values– How to think– Worldviews – one’s basic beliefs about ultimate reality, truth

and knowledge, ethics, and origins/destiny shapes their political attitudes.

• Generational effects – historical events may shape political opinion. (great depression).

• Media influence – tells us what to think about

III. Ideology and Opinion• Can we predict political opinion based upon self-described

ideologies?For the most part, YES. IV. Demographics and Opinion A. Gender• Women appear to be more passive on issues involving use of

force (i.e. war, death penalty, gun control). Women do not have significantly different opinions on non-force issues like abortion and domestic gender roles.

• Gender Gap: Women = more likely to be Democratic (as of 80s). (Next Slide)

B. Religion: Protestants and Catholics more likely to identify as moderates or conservatives than liberals; Jews more likely to identify as liberals. But Protestant Evangelicals are the most supportive voting block for Republicans.

IV. Individual Participation in PoliticsA. Securing the right to vote (suffrage)1. Elimination of Property Qualifications (1800-1840) 2. Fifteenth Amendment (1870) – black male suffrage3. Continued denial of voting rights (1870-1964)

a. “white primary” – Democratic party primary elections in many southern counties in the early part of the twentieth century that excluded black people from voting.b. Literacy tests – all were required to pass (which few people could) difficult tests involving complex legal documents.

4. Civil Rights Act/VRA (1964-65) – abolished unequal registration requirements

5. 24th amendment – abolished poll taxes (a price to get registered6. 19th amendment – women suffrage (1920)7. 26th amendment (1971) – eighteen year old suffrage or voting rights8. National Voter Registration act (1993) – “Moter voter” – can register

when you get your drivers license.

VI. Turnout (TO=#voting/#eligible)A. Turnout since 1960 (next slide)

B. Why is it low?1. Rational Voter (Anthony Downs) – is it really rational to vote?• your vote does not matter practically. It is never decisive over an

election’s outcome.• the costs of voting (registration, weather, driving, lines…) are to

many much greater than the benefits (the probability that your vote will be decisive + any good feelings you get from it).Vote=Costs – Benefits + (intrinsic rewards)

2. Registration Burdens• registration typically occurs during times of low political interest.• 85% of registered voters turnout, while 50% of eligible voters

vote.• Registration is supposed to prevent voter fraud

C. What causes it to increase or decrease?• Intense political competition• Political Alienation – when people feel that they

are incapable of affecting the political process they are less likely to vote (this has happened since Watergate, 70s)

• Intensity – extremists or ideologues are more likely to vote (this is why candidates are typically more extreme sounding during primaries and more centrist sounding during general elections)

• Education: Most important; Income; Age (all are positively related; next slide)

D. Explaining the Recent Decrease in Turnout in the U.S.• Despite the relaxation of voter registration requirements, voter

turnout has still not improved significantly. Why?• Trust in Government and Efficacy Beliefs are down• Expansion of the electorate (18 year olds are less likely to vote)• Decline of Party Strength and Organization• Voter Mobility UpE. Comparative Voting: The U.S. is near the bottom of voter turnout

compared to other Western Democracies • Many include only registered voters• Many require voting

VII. Is Low Voter Turnout Bad?• George Will (Elitism) – Nonvoters are more likely to be

of lower socioeconomic class (less informed/educated). Do we want the “ignorant” voting? Many of the founding fathers sympathized with this argument (fear of BOTH “tyranny of the king AND tyranny of the majority or masses).

• What if nonvoting is a political statement being expressed in a democracy?1. Expressing indifference between candidates or general satisfaction with status quo.2. Groups my abstain in order to send an electoral message to a party (“Stop taking us for granted”)