POLS 207 Lim Test 3

Recent efforts to discourage voting:

-(2010), 17 states have enacted new requirements that voters must show photo ID. -Voters w/o acceptable identification must vote on a provisional ballot and also take additional steps after Election Day for it to be continued. -Two states don't require photo-ID.

Voter Registration

-2nd reason for low turnout in american elections. - We have registration procedures least likely to encourage participation. - In the U.S, citizens themselves must be proactive to secure the right to vote. - Requirement: registration must be completed 30 days before an election.

Figure 6.5: 2014 General Elections?

-47% were registered but didn't vote and 23.8% voted. -The turnout rate for VEP was 23.8%. -For both Primary and General elections, the largest group of non-voters were registered to vote.

Figure 6.5: 2014 Primary Elections?

-59% of VAP were registered but didn't vote and 9.1% voted. -The turnout rate for VEP was 11.0%.

Nonpartisan Elections

-Ballots don't list candidates political parties. -More than 90% of election and elections of state judges are apart of these elections. -Candidates cant advertise their party affiliations.

Figure 8.1: Local governments receives what percentage of revenue and from what sources ?

41% from local sources are from things they charge, including utilities.

In voting for the city council in Peoria, Illinois, voters can do what if they choose to?

Accumulate their votes for seats on the council and give them to a single candidate.

Exhausted Voter Explanation?

Americans may participate at lower levels b/c they are fatigued by the # of times they must go to the polls. -It's one of the main reasons why American vote less.

Initiative?

Is a process that allows citizens to enact proposal of a new law or constitutional amendment that is placed on the ballot by petition, that is, by collecting signatures of a certain number citizens.

Writing to congressional representatives:

Is probably the most common, even if congress has nothing to do with the problem.

Oldest form of municipal government?

Mayor/Council form of government = Division b/w legislative and executive branches that Americans expect of government.

"Strong" Mayors

Mayors w/ substantial formal powers, such as budget making and veto power.

Direct democracy through initiative and referendum was adopted when?

In the early 20th century.

Participation in politics is not...

representative of population

Fundamental difference between interest groups and political parties

size

When did all offices in elected in presidential years decline?

smoothly b/w 1960 & 1990, with the exception of 1982. --Turnout has increased in presidential years steadily starting in 2000.

Correlations with Voting Age turnout

Median Age of Population (.3) High School completion (.63) Poverty rate (-.34) Percent Registered (.6) Percent Anglo(.48) Percent African American(-.32) Percent Hispanic or Latino (-.41)

Citizens of other democracies may have as few a three officials representing them:

Member of a parliament, a city council member, & a Mayor.

Local offices filled by nonpartisan elections, such as city council or school board membership:

Might attract more "average" persons and thus result in more normal personalities in those offices.

Figure 8.1: Tax on individual and business income is?

Minor source of funds.

The federal court held that the Texas Legislature discriminated intentionally against who?

Minority voters. Drawing electoral district maps is how they did it.

If we wanted to strengthen group party linkages, what action might be taken?

Most effective change might be to abandoned our winner-take-all system of district elections and change to a system of proportional representation that stimulates creation of multiple minority parties linked to a variety of social groups.

7,382 State legislators:

Most elected for two year terms and all from local districts. -- more than 259,000 city council, school board, county commission, and town or township board members to be elected.

When we think of local government services, what come to mind?

Municipal Government: police, fire protection, street construction & maintenance, and sewage.

In order to weaken the power of ward heelers, what need to occur?

Municipal reformers wanted city council members to be elected from citywide elections in which all could cast a vote. -These "At-Large Elections" were originally used to defeat political machines. -"At-Large Elections" deny minorities the representation on city councils that would be expected given their percentage in the community.

26th Amendment?

Must allow U.S. citizens who are 18 years of age to vote. --F.Y.I.= States can and do grant the right to vote to citizens under 18.

Registration is required in all states except:

N.Dakota.

Who had lower VEP rates than Texas?

N.Y. and Indiana.

Turnout and Accurate representation of partisan preference in the public or division of legislative seats b/w Republicans and Democrats ha e what kind of relationship?

No relationship

Turnout and taxing and spending policies or generosity of welfare payments have what kind of relationship?

No relationship at all.

Nonpartisan Elections?

With candidates not identifiable by party label, made it difficult for those with weaker literacy to know which candidates were machine candidates. -The added requirement of "literacy" disfranchised these machine supporters and made the question of to vote moot. -67% reported using nonpartisan elections and 33% reported using partisan elections - 5% use the pairing of district and partisan elections.

Short-Ballot Reform?

With fewer officials to elect, the ballot would be shorter.

"Strong-Mayor" form of municipal government:

With the mayor the empowered to fill many positions by appointment and given a major role in taxing and spending decisions, was also apart of the reform movement. -This practice clarified who was responsible for government.

A less direct but more common act is to?

Write to an Elected Official. --About 3 in 10 claim to have written to an elected official.

If you live in a large metropolitan area w/ one or more old core or central cities surrounded by multiple incorporated municipalities?

You may have as many as 10 or 12 local governments, each providing you with some services.

Primary election voters are

a) Fewer b) More extreme in their views

The overall pattern is for presidential candidates to get ?

A turnout of 55%.

Voting Rights

Civil Rights Act 1964 Voting Rights Act 1965, 1970, 1975, 1982, 2006

Political parties have no interest in being ___, only in ___.

Competitive; winning

In most presidential election years the greatest voter participation is?

Contest for governor.

Who are the Elected officials that serve in the national government:

100 Senators and 435 representatives to congress , are all elected by either state or local districts.

Eligible electorate that are citizens:

26% bothered to vote.

Google search of "voting problems 2016" resulted in links to?

" Wisconsin's voter ID Laws Caused Major Problems At The Polls"; " Florida Voting Problems"; "Arizona's Shameful Voting Delays"; " Voters in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia and Texas flooded voter hotlines to complain".

Most state legislators say the most important thing they do is ?

"Kill Bad Bills."

Congress in off years get a possible turnout of?

A turnout of 39%.

(2015), A Gallup Poll Survey found how many who had trust in the federal government?

38% trust the federal government's ability to handle domestic problems.

Independent School Districts:

-Free primary and Secondary education is provided by Independent School Districts. -Municipal governments once provided public education. -called "independent" to recognize they are no longer part of municipal governments. -After WW2, there were more than 100,000 school districts nationally. -(1962), we had only about 35,000 school districts. -(2012), there were 12,884 independent school districts. - The State of Hawaii has a single statewide school districts overseen directly by state government. -All state constitutions require equal access to a quality or effective or efficient education system. Except for Hawaii. School funding is shared b states and school districts in 49 states. -School districts w/ higher tax rates spent less per enrolled student. - Tax rates were negatively related to spending per student b/c school districts rely on property taxes. -(2012), Pennsylvania had the worst funding disparities b/w low-income and high-income schools. -The state's poorest school districts receive 33% less state and local funding than the richest schools. - The challenge to providing more equal funding per student in a state is political. -There are several, Simple solutions: to large variations in property value per student across school districts: 1. States could still fund public education w/ property taxes, but use statewide property value per student as the tax base. 2. State property tax, and then distribute funds to school districts based on the number of students and other factors such as number of special needs students as defined by the state. (2012), 24 states spent less per student in higher poverty districts w/ state and local funds. - When federal funds were included, only 7 states spent less in higher poverty districts.

"Motor Voter Law" a.k.a. National Voter Registration

-It was passed as an attempt to increase registration. -Required states to make voter registration materials available at state offices with higher citizens traffic. -Materials must be displayed prominently, but no one was required to let visitors know about them.

Figure 6.5: Pie charts of VAP are divided into categories of interest:

-Non-Citizens: 14% and Ineligible felons 2% are in the VAP, but excluded from the VEP. -For both Primary and General elections, 15%of eligible did not register.

Merit system?

-Selecting public employees was intended to disable the machine's awarding public jobs to supporters. -In a merit system, public jobs have job descriptions and associated competency tests. -Workers under the machine were expected to give up to 10% of their earnings back to the party organization that helped underwrite the expense of running that effort. -Civil service employees owed nothing to political parties for their jobs.

Special Districts:

-The 12,340 special districts in 1952 grew to more than 37,203 (2012). -These districts provide limited services most often in a single policy area, such fire protection, water supply, and recreation. -In a few cases, the general public elects members of the governing board but most often cooperating existing governments are treated as a "confederacy", each joining to form a central government to provide the special service only.

Municipal Government Town Meeting Form:

-The TOWN MEETING and REPRESENTATIVE TOWN MEETING forms of municipal government are used in less than 4% of municipalities. -Strong elements of direct citizen participation. -Eligible citizens who attend meetings act as the legislative body.

Three forces combined in the 1990s to produce the current period of hyper-partisanship

1) Gerrymandering 2) expansion of electronic and broadcast media 3) Reduction of bipartisan cooperation and centralization of power in congress

Critics argue Voting Age Population Turnout is less accurate and not as useful as has it has been b/c of 2 reasons.

1. The # of non-citizens both legal an illegal has become large. Part of voting age population but nt eligible to vote. 2. # of felons ineligible to vote has become large. Including non-citizens and ineligible felons as part of the population eligible to vote overstates potential voters and underestimates turnout rates.

Registration on election Day is available in how states?

13 States. -- Vermont (2017) and Hawaii (2018) will begin such methods.

Figure 6.8: Of 72 nations that held presidential elections from 2010 to 2013, how many states had lower voter turnout?

13.

Texas government texts observe that the average turnout in constitutional amendment elections has?

15%

Municipal and other local governments are most often the single providers for at least two reasons:

1st, The startup cost of utility infrastructure are so expensive that private companies are not willing to wait decades before recognizing a profit. 2nd, Americans are more willing to have governments than private businesses have monopoly control over products and services regarded as necessities.

Several normative benefits are expected to come with more participation:

1st, is Improved Legitimacy for governmental decisions. -Legitimacy=psychological attitude that one must voluntarily obey decisions by proper officials. -Proper Officials= elected in fair contests open to all qualified citizens. 2nd expected benefit of greater turnout is "Better correspondence b/w public and public policy. -linkage b/w what the pubic wants and what policy it gets is expected in a democracy.

Governors in most states head the ballots in off years and do better than congressional candidates by?

2 to 3 points.

Turnout for gubernatorial elections is?

2% higher than turnout for presidential elections in these election years.

Of 24 states with initiative or referendum,

21 had implemented something by 1918. -- Since then 3 states have adopted and 3 states have made modifications.

How states permit citizen-initiated law making?

24 States

How states have used or approved registration through internet?

25 states.

Across five democracies:

28% of the public claims to have ever attempted to influenced the outcome of government decision in their local community and 16 % at the national level. 19% claim to have attend one potential meeting or rally in the last 3 years, and 30 claim to have worked with others in trying to solve some community problem.__

San Francisco Bay area show a turnout of?

31%

Municipalities claim a national turnout of?

33%

Turnout for Congressional elections typically trails the vote for governor by?

5 to 7% points.

Percent voting age population turnout in presidential election is...

54%

what is the percentage of mayor-council governments use at-large elections?

54%, while 70% or more of the other government forms do.

Figure 6.8: Of 72 nations that held presidential elections from 2010 to 2013, how many states had higher voter turnout?

55.

State and federal governments were viewed favorably by?

57% and 28% respectively.

Turnout for state elections in non-presidential years?

A turnout of 40%

Governors in off years get turnouts of?

A turnout of 42%.

A 2013 Pew Research Center Poll reported?

63% of Americans viewed local governments favorably.

Local governments finance the large majority by how much, and with which of their own revenues?

68% (2013). Own Revenues: Taxes, usually Property Taxes, and fees paid to local governments.

Turn out is low due to ?

70% of local elections are being held when no state or national office is one the ballot.

In a 2014, what occurred in the Gallup Poll Survey for Americans trust in government?

72% of Americans trust local government and 62% trust state government.

The NRA defeated reforms supported by more than ___% of Americans

90%

Congress in presidential years get a possible turnout of?

A turnout of 51%.

In Texas, prospective voters would need to travel where?

A State Department of Public Safety office to get an election ID.

President Clinton in 1992 and 1996, as well as President George W. Bush in 2000 did not receive what?

A majority of the popular vote.

One American in Four attend?

A public hearing or Meeting over a year's time.

Only about one in ten attended?

A school board meeting w/in the past year.

In the United States in general and Texas in particular, what do they have in common?

A strong contemporary Anti-Government Attitude.

(2015), Oregon implemented "Automatic Registration":

A system that automatically registers eligible voters who are in the Department of Motor Vehicle database. -They can "opt out" of being on the registered voting list. - Easier registration procedures = could increase turnout by 14%. -Such an increase in the United States would leave us below more than half of the other countries in figure 6.8.

Turnout in local elections barely exceeds?

A turnout of 25%

Local government election turnout averages?

A turnout of 26%

The initiative has not proven to be?

A viable form of direct democracy usable in large democracies.

Rational Activist Model of Democracy?

ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT in gathering info. and participating, BEING INFORMED, and RATIONALLY SUPPORTING the candidate who best reflects one's personal positions are the desirable, if difficult, goals to achieve. --They are the standards for voters in a democracy.

(1915), Cincinnati was the last American city to?

Abandon the bicameral or two-house form of legislature that is normally associated w/ the idea of checks and balances.

Voter turnout in 2012 presidential election resulted in?

About 58% of Americans old enough to vote.

The National Election Studies of how people vote in presidential and congressional elections found out?

About 8% claiming to have attended a political meeting.

REFERENDUM (a.k.a. Popular Referendum):___?

Allows citizens to approve or disapprove proposals passed by state legislatures.

VOTING: ___?

An aggregate action that is supposed to influence public policy.

Today, all states require what in order to vote?

An individual must be both a citizen of the U.S. and a resident of the state.

The level of government & turn in Americans elections have what kind of relationship?

An inverse relationship.

Qualified initiatives?

Are automatically up for popular votes.

The 1993 law became important in July 2013 when the Supreme Court decided?

Arizona couldn't require applicants to use a state registration form that required proof of citizenship. -Before the court ruled against the 1993 law it required states to use a federal form that asks, "Are you a citizen of the U.S.?". -They had to check a box yes or no, sign a form, swearing they were a citizen. -The court ruled against those requirements of the federal form for registering residents to vote in elections for federal offices.

Registration on election Day increase turnout by how much?

B/w 5% & 13% W/ no additional fraud, such as person voting who are not eligible.

Initiative Process can propose what?

Bad laws that could seriously injure the state and its future.

How can voters affect policy indirectly?

By supporting candidates they agree with and defeating candidates they disagree with.

Some have attempted to increase turnout by implementing?

Convenience-Voting Procedures to make voting easier.

Influence of interest groups has increased because of ____.

Costly campaigns

Municipal Government Council/Manager Form:

Council/Manager form of municipal government shares the same form of government used in U.S. independent school districts b/c the same reform-Municipal Reform Movement, created both. --This form of government is used by virtually all independent school districts and approx. 59% of cities. --It is the Majority in cities of populations less than 250,000. --The best policy is professional one that need be neither competitive nor cooperative but should be sound and well based. --Under this form, the publicly elected city council appoints a professional city manager to administer municipal government during the term of his or her contract.

Less than 1 % of Americans seek?

Elective Positions.

Figure 6.6 :

Divides Texas VAP Population into VEP.

Figure 8.2: Local Government Spending

Education = Most expensive, 34% of primary and secondary education and 3% for Higher education and Libraries. -Public safety = 9%. - Utility and Environment and Housing Spending = Approx. 11% Each. -Transportation = 6%. - Hospitals = 5%. - Each of the other areas is less than 5%. -Police, corrections, sewers, highways, and utilities constitute less than a quarter of local government expenditures for services.

Texas legislatures have a board discretion in choosing?

Election Dates.

Mayor is the head of the? City Council is the ?

Executive Branch. Legislative Branch.

Mandatory Legislative Referendums?

In 23 states. Required to enact or reject constitutional amendments and certain statutory laws proposed by state legislatures.

Texas is not consistently a low turnout state. T/F?

False

N.Y. and Indiana did not have lower proportions of Non-citizens an ineligible felons than Texas. T/F?

False.

First two political parties?

Federalists and Antifederalists.

The two constitutionally allowed restrictions on who is allowed to vote are?

Felons and those not competent to conduct their own affairs. --

Figure 6.8:

Few other democracies have lower turnout in their national elections than does the united states.

(2000), President George W. Bush received what to win his election year.

Fewer popular votes, but more Electoral College Votes--than AL Gore.

Only two options on the ballot:

For and against. --A majority vote in the election passes or repeals law.

1960s, most recent example of massive, sustained protest against government policy in the United States is?

For the Vietnam War, less than 1% was ever involved in protesting our military involvement there.

The total of VAP not included in VEP increased?

From 5% in 1980 to 16% starting in 2006.

Suburbs?

From the older and decaying neighborhoods of central cities to newly developed residential areas surrounding those cities.

What does chapter 6 focus on?

General Public's role in governing.

The lowest turnout happens at which level of government?

Government acclaimed as " Closest to the people."

For the 2012 Presidential Election, President Barack Obama, had a turnout of?

He won 332 of 538 Electoral College votes, 62%. He had the support of about 51% of just over 122 million voters.

Correlations with Voting eligible turnout

High school completion (.6) Poverty Rate (.-34) Percent Registered (.52) Percent Anglo(.38), African American(.31), or Hispanic/latino (.30).

The 7 that hold gubernatorial elections in presidential years have?

Higher turnouts than do those in off years.

Figure 6.9: State turnout for each election year from 1980 to 2012 is ?

Highly correlated w/ the turnout in all of the other election years.

Within individual states, decisions made by initiative reflect?

Ideological preferences of the majority of voters.

Texas' election districts and attempts to enforce "inconvenience voting" laws would?

Impact most those voters who support the current majority party in Texas the least.

The highest use of at-large elections is found where?

In the Pacific Coast (89%) and in New England (81%) cities.

U.S cities experienced tremendous growth in population and experienced many difficulties under the twin forces of?

Industrialization and immigration.

Requirements stating that one needed to register to vote and had to be a citizen to register had what kind of effect of the public?

It greatly reduced the votes available to machine candidates.

First political party to organize both to win elections and within the halls of government

Jeffersonian Republicans

Democratic party can trace its roots back to____.

Jeffersonian republicans

Which states deny those convicted of a felony the right to vote even after they have served their sentence?

Kentucky and Virginia retain this lifetime penalty.

Four factors largely account for voting less:

Lack of PARTY-GROUP LINKAGE, registration restrictions, lack of penalties for failure to vote, and voter exhaustion.

Why do Americans vote less?

Lack of party-group linkage Registration restrictions Non-compulsory voting Voter exhaustion

Two types of organization for political parties

Legislative organization Electoral organization

All states except who, do not allow felons in prison to vote.

Maine and Vermont

Roll-Off?

Many who vote for the top offices on the ballot fail to vote at the bottom of the ballot.

Participation in politics (from greatest to least)

Non Participants (>60%) Vote for Elected offices (10%-60%) Initiative and Referendum (20-50%) Attend Public Meetings (3-20%) Protestors (Uncertain) Run for Office (<1%)

Figure 6.7:

Non-citizens comprise the largest excluded group in most states.

Some states and local governments hold?

Nonbinding advisory votes or " Straw Polls."

Which states reduced early voting in 2012 as part of the Huffington Post characterized as " a concerted effort to suppress the votes of Democratic-leaning voters."

Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia.

In Larger cities, two ill-defined and unlabeled political parties form:

One supportive of the manager and one opposed.

When is comes to registered voters ?

Only 72% of those eligible are registered. --Non-citizens can't register or vote.

Secret Ballot (Australian ballot)?

Only lawful away to cast one's vote.

All states permit?

Optional Legislative Referendums where legislative bodies reassign decisions they could have made themselves to voters. --Occurs when those empowered by representative democracy prefer decisions made by direct democracy.

What is the most important thing interest groups and political parties need to succeed?

Organization

Spring of 1995?

Peoria saw an African-American endorsed candidate win city council seat. -Turnout is 5% higher under proportional election systems than in normal plurality elections.

There are positive relationships b/w?

Percent Registered and Percent Anglo population and turnout.

"Weak" Mayors

Preside over council meetings and have the power to vote.

There are individuals and groups making a career of?

Promoting Initiatives.

Figure 8.1: Local governments rely greatly on?

Property Tax and Sales Tax.

People will resort to violent means to get their preferences in Public Policy. Other direct forms of participation include?

Protest ( Condoned as freedom of speech), rebellion, assassination, and insurrection.

As long as voter are unlike non-voters?

Public policy outcomes are likely to be biased when turnout is low.

States are taking action by?

Reducing voting convenience and create new barriers to voting.

Town meetings are examples of?

Representative Democracy. -- Those present make decisions for themselves and those who are absent.

Which political party took credit for the collapse of USSR and an international tendency towards capitalism?

Republican Party

During the civil war, the predominant political party in the North changed from ____ to ____.

Republicans; machine parties

Qualified indirect initiatives?

Require legislative approval before being scheduled for popular votes.

Given the Lack of transportation available in the late 1800s and early 1900s, what occurred?

Rivers and seaports were chosen as the sites for manufacturing Plants.

Nearly, 17 million Americans could have experienced what?

Running for public office. --This would be about 7.5% of adult Americans.

Democratic elections may provide what? What does it relieve?

Safety Valve. It relieves the displeasure of people whose positions on issues is not supported or are ignored by government.

Halter explains why:

Since 1960 more than 70% of constitutional elections have been held in odd number years w/ no overlap w/ state or federal elections. -Low turnout in these elections results in amendments being approved.

Who has the most success in terms of organized groups?

Small wealthy groups

Factors associated with turnout

Socioeconomic status Interparty competition Tradition/culture Legal Requirements Election issues

"Initiative Industry"?

Specializes in getting signatures on petitions and in spending great amounts of money to influence the outcome of referendums on initiatives. --California and Washington= has the most growth.

To a great extent, negative views about the performance of the federal government are also applied to?

State Governments.

Amendments to the Texas State Constitution must be proposed by?

State Legislature and approved or disapproved by voters in an election.

Absentee Vote?

States have allowed voters to cast their votes by mail. - Those hospitalized or out of the state on Election Day can apply for such a ballot. - More than 50% have been recorded to vote by mail. -Such elections= one-third less expensive and show little fraud. -(2000), Oregon began using mail-in ballots for all voting. -Mail voting didn't increase voter turnout.

Political Socialization in Texas

Texans are taught to accept the political system, not to participate in it.

Few elected officials in the united states can say?

That more than half of the electorate voted for them.

The strong mayor/council form of municipal government employs?

The "checks-and-balances" ideas of how to form public policy.

Only one of these elected officials have a national constituency:

The President of the United States, sharing the ticket with a vice president.

"Policy-making by Competition".

The best policy is the one that meets the approval of both the executive and the legislative branches.

Many countries apply fines and penalties due to what reason?

The failure to vote. Australia= You receive a $20 citation for failure to vote. U.S.= Doesn't impose any penalties, but if they did turnout would increase.

The initiative process starts with collecting?

The signatures of enough registered voters on petitions w/in a prescribed time. -- Enough is typically defined as 3 to 10 % of the number voting for governor in the last election ( California requires 5%).

Overall in the United States:

There are more than 270,000 elected officials to be filled and refilled after 2 years or so.

We lack party-group linkages:

These are enduring and sharp correspondence b/w political parties and major segments of society. -America doesn't have the sharp class polarization.

When initiatives and referendums are decided at the same time, where do they appear on the ballot?

They appear at the end of the ballot.

Reform Movement?

Those who lost power to the immigrant-based machines fought back by forcing cities to "reform".

"Long-term Graduated Repayment Mortgage" made it possible for more to own homes. T/F?

True

(2013), local governments received 4% of their directly from the federal government, 27% from state government, and 68% from own revenue sources. T/F?

True

(2014), Texas had the lowest VAP turnout in the nation. T/F?

True

Every 4 years, the contest for the presidency tops the ballot . T/F?

True

Local governments provide a board range of services on which we depend on. T/F?

True

Municipal Government/government incorporated cities, is a relatively old form of government adopted from England. T/F?

True

Today, 66% of cities use at-large elections, 17% use district elections 17% use a combination of the two. T/F?

True

Turnout for typical elections to the House of Representatives was less than 30%. T/F?

True

Turnout in presidential election years can approach or exceed 50%. T/F?

True

33% of cities use the mayor council form. T/F?

True - most common form of government in cities w/ populations of at least 250,000.

swift-boating

Turning someone's strength into a weakness

Voting Age Population Turnout?

Turnout is normally measured in terms of # of voters divided by those old enough to vote, the population 18 years and older.

Constitutional amendment proposals on a presidential election ballot?

Turnout might be high as 50%.

W/o mass media to spur public interest and participation in presidential/state legislative/gubernatorial elections, these elections would have ?

Very low turnouts.

Normal at-large election?

Voters can cast as many votes as there are positions to be filled but can give each candidate only one vote.

Forms of Public Participation

Voting Talk about politics Attend public meetings Contributions Communicating with representatives Campaigning Initiating and repealing laws seeking public office

Which is greater: voting eligible population turnout or voting age population turnout?

Voting eligible population turnout

Of all possible actions that citizens might take in governing:

Voting for public officeholders, occasionally attracts a majority. --This can be viewed as indirect democracy, or a " Republican Form of Government."

Off Year Election?

When the president isn't on the ballot. --Turnout is typically 15 to 20% lower than in presidential election years.

Cities w/ populations of 250,000 or more tend to have?

at-large elections.

Figure 6.10: State turnout for each election year for non-presidential election years is ?

correlated w/ turnout in other non-presidential election years.

Percent African American and Hispanic/Latino Population=

negatively correlated w/ turnout.

Positive voter turnout is related to?

older population and more high school completion.

Negative voter turnout is related to?

poverty

The date on which governor and other statewide offices are contested:

turnout is high as 30%.

Many states permit 17-year-olds to do what?

vote in primary elections and caucuses if they will be 18 by the general election day.

In Cumulative Election?

voters can give more than of their votes to a single candidate. - They can cast all their votes for one candidate. -Cumulative is used for city council elections in numerous cities in Alabama and Texas. - Used to elect school boards in more than 50 school districts. -Used in voting rights cases where minorities have been excluded from holding office. -Cumulative voting isn't popular in United States.

Political parties today are ___ than in the past.

weaker