Chapter 13

Voting and Elections

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2008

American Government: Continuity and Change9th Editionto accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, Texas, and Essentials Editions

O’Connor and Sabato

Voting Behavior Conventional political participation

Political participation that attempts to influence the political process through well-accepted, often moderate forms of persuasion

Unconventional political participation Political participation that attempts to

influence the political process through unusual or extreme measures, such as protests, boycotts, and picketing

Patterns in Voter TurnoutTurnout: the proportion of the voting-age public that votes

40% of the eligible adult population votes 25% are occasional voters 35% rarely vote

Education: Voters tend to be more educated Income: More voters have higher incomes Age: Younger people vote less Gender: Women vote at the same rate or slightly higher

rate than men Race and Ethnicity:

Whites vote more regularly than African Americans – related to income and educational differences in the two groups

Hispanics vote less than African Americans Have potential to wield much influence given their increasing

size Interest in politics: Those interested in politics vote more

Why Is Voter Turnout So Low?

Too Busy Difficulty of Registration Difficulty of Absentee Voting Number of Elections Voter Attitudes Weakened Influence of Political

Parties

Efforts to Improve Voter Turnout

Easier Registration and Absentee Voting Make Election Day a Holiday Strengthen Parties Other suggestions

Holding fewer elections Proportional representation system for congressional

elections Saturday or Sunday election day Making voting mandatory Tax credits Election weeks rather than election days Internet voting

Does Low Turnout Matter? Some argue it is a not a critical problem

Based on belief that preferences of nonvoters are not much different from those who do vote

So…results would be the same regardless Nonvoting is voluntary Nonvoting driven by acceptance of the status

quo Others believe it is a problem

Voters do not represent nonvoters Social make-up and attitudes of nonvoters today

are significantly different from those of voters Tend to be low income, younger, blue collar, less

educated and more heavily minority

Patterns in Vote Choice Party Identification

Most powerful predictor voter behavior Ticket-splitting: voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in

the same election Race and Ethnicity

Whites increased tendency to vote Republican African Americans vote overwhelmingly for Democrats Hispanics also tend to identify with and vote for Democrats

Kerry 53 percent; Bush 44 percent Asian Americans less monolithic

Women today more likely to support Democratic candidates Gender gap varies by election

Poor vote more often for Democrats; wealthier for Republicans Ideology related closely to vote choice

Conservatives for Republicans Liberals for Democrats

Issues Retrospective judgment Prospective judgment

Purposes of Elections Regular free elections

guarantee mass political action enable citizens to influence the actions of their

government

Popular election confers on a government the legitimacy that it can achieve no other way

Regular elections also ensure that government is accountable to the people it serves

Purposes of Elections Electorate

Citizens eligible to vote Mandate:

A command, indicated by an electorate’s voters, for the elected officials to carry out their platforms

Sometimes the claim of a mandate is suspect because voters are not so much endorsing one candidate as rejecting the other

Kinds of Elections Primary Elections:

Election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election. Closed primary: a primary election in which only a party’s

registered voters are eligible to vote Open primary: a primary in which party members,

independents, and sometimes members of the other party are allowed to vote

Crossover voting: participation in the primary of a party with which the voter is not affiliated

Raiding: An organized attempt by voters of one party to influence the primary results of the other party

Runoff primary: a second primary election between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes in the first primary

General Elections

General elections are those in which voters decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices

Held at many levels. Contests between the candidates of

opposing parties

Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Initiative

An election that allows citizens to propose legislation and submit it to the state electorate for popular vote

Referendum An election whereby the state legislature

submits proposed legislation to the state’s voters for approval

Recall Voters can remove an incumbent from office by

popular vote Are very rare

Presidential Elections

Primary elections or caucuses are used to elect national convention delegates which choose the nominee Winner-take-all primary Proportional representation primary Caucus

Primaries v. Caucuses Over years, trend has been to use primaries rather than

caucuses to choose delegates Caucus is the oldest, most party-oriented method of choosing

delegates to the national conventions Arguments for primaries

More democratic More representative A rigorous test for the candidate

Arguments for caucuses Caucus participants more informed; more interactive and

informative Unfair scheduling affects outcomes Frontloading (being first in the primary calendar) gives some

primary states an advantage Frontloading is the tendency to choose an early date on the

primary schedule

The Party Conventions Out-of-power party holds its convention

first, in late July, followed in mid-August by party holding the presidency

Conventions were decision-making body in the 19th century

Today the convention is fundamentally different Nominations settled well in advance of the

convention

The Party Conventions: Delegate Selections Unit Rule

A traditional party practice under which the majority of a state delegation can force the minority to vote for its candidate Abolished by the Democrats

New Democratic party rule decrees that state’s delegates be chosen in proportion to the votes cast in its primary or caucus. (30% of votes = 30% delegates from that state) – proportional allocation

Superdelegates Delegate slot to the Democratic Party’s national

convention that is reserved for an elected party official Some rules originating in Democratic Party have been

enacted as state laws thus applying them to the Republican Party as well.

National Convention: National Candidates and Issues

Political perceptions and loyalties of voters are not influenced largely by national candidates and issues Diminished the power of state and local party

leaders at the convention.

Issues are more important to the new, issue-oriented party activists than to the party professionals

Party professionals no longer have monopoly on managing party affairs

National Conventions: The News Media

Changing nature of coverage No prime time coverage on some days Extending coverage on the final day of

each convention Reflects change in political culture

More interest in the candidates themselves Convention still generates much

coverage for the party

The Electoral College Representatives of each state who

cast the final ballots that actually elect a president

Total number of electors for each state equal to the number of senators and representatives that a state has in the U.S. Congress

District of Columbia is given 3 electoral votes

The Electoral College Result of compromise between:

Selection by Congress versus direct popular election

Three essentials to understanding the design of the Electoral College: Constructed to work without political parties Constructed to cover both the nominating and

electing phases of presidential selection Constructed to produce a nonpartisan president

The Electoral College in the 19th Century

12th Amendment (1804) Attempt to remedy the confusion between the

selection of vice presidents and presidents that emerged in the election 1800

Provided for separate elections for each office, with each elector having only one vote to cast for each

In event of a tie, the election still went to the House

Top three candidates go to House Each state House delegation casts one vote

The Electoral College in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Electoral college crises At times a candidate can win the Electoral

College vote without having won the popular vote

Reapportionment matters Representation of states in the Electoral College

is altered every ten years to reflect population shifts

Recent reapportionment has favored the Republicans

With the exception of California, George W. Bush carried all of the states that gained seats in 2000

The Electoral College Reconsidered

Popular Vote Congressional District Plan Keep the College, Abolish the Electors

Congressional Elections Very different from presidential elections

Lesser known candidates, more difficulty getting media attention

Incumbency Advantage Staff support Media and travel The “Scare-off” effect Redistricting/Gerrymandering

Congressional Elections

When incumbents lose it is generally due to: Redistricting

Gerrymandering Scandals Presidential Coattails

Midterm Congressional Elections

Election takes place in the middle of a presidential term President’s party usually loses seats in midterms Tendency for voters to punish the president’s party

more severely in the sixth year of an eight year presidency - 6th year itch Retrospective voting Senate elections less inclined to the 6th year itch

2002 midterm elections were a remarkable exception Bush picked up seats in the House and Senate

2006 midterm elections

Reforming the Electoral Process

Focus on the Electoral College Other areas

Nomination Regional primaries

Campaign Finance Reform Online Voting Voting by Mail Modernizing the Ballot