Chapter 8: Political Participation and Voting

Thinking Critically about Political Participation and Liberty, Equality, and Democracy

1. For much of the twentieth century, our political institutions failed to mobilize an active citizenry. The demobilized citizenry gave rise to an uneven pattern of political participation at odds with American notions of equality and democracy. 2. Since 2000, a series of highly competitive national elections has spurred political campaigns to pay much more attention to drawing voters into the political process. New technologies—the Internet, texting, and social networking sites—have provided citizens with novel ways to learn about and engage with politics. 3. The socioeconomic bias in American politics remains an important concern.

Forms of Political Participation

1. Political participation refers to a wide range of activities, designed to influence government. Political participation can take many forms. The most common today are lobbying, public relations, litigation, protest, and, most important, voting. 2. Throughout American history, there has been a progressive, if uneven, expansion of suffrage to groups such as African Americans, women, and youths. 3. Americans are taught to equate citizenship with electoral participation. 4. Though the United States now has a system of universal suffrage, voter turnout continues to be low. The least well-off Americans are the least likely to vote, while the wealthiest Americans are the most likely to vote.

Which of the following has shown the most promise for increasing voter turnout?

Election day registration

How are election days in the United States different from those in Europe?

European countries typically hold their elections on Sundays or holidays.

Nonvoters are disproportionately young, nonwhite, uneducated and

poor

An example of ___________ was the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City's Financial District in September 2011.

protests

Which of the following represents the broadest barrier to voting in the United States?

registration requirements

Which of the following would be the least likely to improve voter turnout in the United States?

requiring all voters to show photo identification

Which demographic group tends to vote the most?

seniors

The increased use of new media in campaigns has done which of the following?

significantly increased the ability of dark-horse and third-party candidates to reach voters

Women and minorities in the U.S. Congress are

significantly underrepresented compared with their percentage of the U.S. population.

The Latino vote is often referred to by analysts as the

sleeping giant.

Socioeconomic status

status in society based on level of education, income, and occupational prestige.

Voter turnout in America is ____________ other democracies around the world.

substantially lower than

Riots and rural uprisings were relatively common in America until which of the following?

the growth of elections and other formal mechanisms of popular involvement in politics.

National elections feature

the highest American levels of turnout because of media attention and voter familiarity with candidates.

Early voting

the option in some states to cast a vote at a polling place or by mail before the election.

Permanent absentee ballots

the option in some states to have a ballot sent automatically to your home for each election, rather than having to request an absentee ballot each time.

Election-Day registration

the option in some states to register on the day of the election, at the polling place, rather than in advance of the election.

Turnout

the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote.

Mobilization

the process by which large numbers of people are organized for a political activity.

Suffrage

the right to vote; also called franchise.

Costs related to voting include which of the following?

the time required to become informed and cast a ballot

Throughout much of American history, a common form of political participation among those denied the right to vote was:

urban riots and rural uprisings

Which religious group became a significant part of the Republican Party base starting in the 1980s?

white evangelical Protestants

The right to vote was granted to which of the following groups in 1920?

women

Explaining Political Participation

1. Several factors explain political participation. They include socioeconomic status, levels of civic engagement, formal obstacles, and efforts by political institutions to mobilize people. The most significant political factor affecting participation is whether people are mobilized by parties, candidates, interest groups, or social movements. People are much more likely to participate when someone—preferably someone they know—asks them to get involved. 2. In recent decades, political parties have ceased to mobilize an active citizenry. Instead, political parties emphasized fund-raising over recruiting volunteers. The competitiveness of national elections since 2000, however, has motivated both parties to build strong organizations to reach voters and turn them out on Election Day.

Who Participates, and How?

1. Several strategies of mobilization emerged to guide African Americans' quest for equality in the twentieth century, including political pressure, legal strategies, and protest. But the question remains whether political participation can improve the lives of African Americans, especially the poor. 2. The use of new technologies increased during the 2008 election. Many analysts and political activists hoped that the widespread use of the Internet and other new technologies would promote greater participation and begin to alter the socioeconomic bias in participation. The most recent research suggests that these new ways of participating have not yet significantly altered the socioeconomic bias in participation. 3. The diversity of national backgrounds among Asian Americans has impeded the development of group-based political power. 4. The ongoing significance of gender issues in American politics is indicated by three trends: the gender gap, the increase in the number of women holding public office, and the continued importance of political issues of special concern to women. 5. In recent years, Latino political organizations have attempted to mobilize members of their community. This effort, if successful, would tap a "sleeping giant" of political influence. 6. One of the most significant patterns in political participation is that older people have much higher rates of participation than young people. 7. A significant element of modern religious politics has been the mobilization of evangelical Protestants into a cohesive and politically active organization aligned with the Republican party.

What percent of eligible American adults typically do not vote?

40 percent

Turnout in the 2008 presidential election set a modern record, with ____________ of eligible citizens voting.

62 percent

In most European countries, national voter turnout is usually

70-90 percent.

Which of the following groups was deprived of the right to vote during much of the twentieth century?

African Americans

______________ is the definition of individuals' being represented in government by officials of their same race, ethnicity, or gender.

Descriptive representation

Which of the following groups has been considered the sleeping giant for many years because of its relatively low levels of political mobilization?

Latinos

____________ offers a striking example of how new media can be used to mobilize offline participation in politics.

Online protests against the proposed laws known as SOPA and PIPA

Opponents of the ___________ employed both online protests and modern lobbying techniques to oppose this legislation.

SOPA and PIPA bills

The digital divide refers to which of the following?

Separating citizens with Internet access from those without Internet access.

Which of the following statements about the voting rights of felons is accurate?

Some states allow felons who have served their sentences to vote, while others do not.

____________ refers to an individual's right to vote.

Suffrage

Which of the following granted 18-year-olds the right to vote?

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

In which of the following countries is voter turnout the lowest?

United States

What was the effect of the Motor Voter Act in the first presidential election after it was passed?

Voter registration rose, but voter turnout did not

Which of the following set of statements is accurate?

Whites vote more than African Americans; Africans Americans vote more than Latinos.

Which of the following elections is most likely to have high voter turnout?

a competitive election with two well-funded candidates

Gender gap

a distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflecting the differences in views between women and men.

Which of the following individuals would be most likely to vote?

a white middle-aged college graduate

Traditional political participation

activities designed to influence government including voting and face-to-face activities such as protesting or volunteering for a campaign.

Online political participation

activities designed to influence government using the Internet, including visiting a candidate's website, organizing events online, or signing an online petition.

The gender gap refers to the fact that females

are more likely than males to support Democratic candidates.

Which of the following political activities is most common among Americans?

attending a local community meeting

Which of the following groups rely disproportionately on mobile phones for Internet access?

blacks and Latinos

Which of the following is most important in predicting conventional political participation in American politics?

education

Ballot measures (referenda) have been found to

increase voter turnout among less educated citizens

Which of the following factors is not significant in informing our understanding of voting in elections?

levels of religiousity

While voting rights are granted to all American citizens over the age of 18, which of the following is a legal reason for some states to revoke this right?

mentally incompetent

The use of digital technology in the 2008 and 2012 elections

mobilized new voters.

Research suggests that political participation in the United States is

not declining but rather changing by including norms of citizenship that are more expressive than voting

During the 2012 presidential elections, the television's dominant role as a medium for campaigns was replaced by which of the following?

online campaigning

Protest

participation that involves assembling crowds to confront a government or other official organization.