GOV CH 6-4 VOTER BEHAVIOR

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CH 6-4 VOTER BEHAVIOR

·      Millions of Americans who are qualified to vote do not do so.
·      Those who choose not to vote often lack a feeling of political efficacy. Age, education, income, and geography also affect whether a person is likely to vote or not.
·      Sociological factors? —such as occupation, gender, and ethnic background? —influence a person? ’s voting choices.
·      Psychological factors? —including party identification and perception of the candidates and issues? —also contribute to voter behavior.

Objectives

1.      Examine the problem of nonvoting in this country, and describe the size of the problem.
2.      Identify people who do not vote.
3.      Examine the behavior of those who vote and those who do not.
4.      Understand the sociological and psychological factors that affect voting and how they work together to influence voter behavior.

Why It Matters
Low voter turnout is a serious problem in this country. Among those who do vote, sociological and psychological factors work together to influence voter behavior over time and in particular elections.
Political Dictionary

off-year election
Congressional election that occurs between presidential election years

Political efficacy
One’s own influence or effectiveness on politics

political socialization
The process by which people gain their political attitudes and opinions

gender gap
Measurable differences between the partisan choices of men and women today

party identification
Loyalty of people to a political party

straight-ticket voting
The practice of voting for candidates of only one party in an election

split-ticket voting
Voting for candidates of different parties for different offices at the same election

independent
A term used to describe people who have no party affiliation
“Your vote is your voice. Use it.” That’s the advice of Rock the Vote, an organization that encourages young voters ages 18–25 to participate in the election process. In the United States, and in other democratic countries, we believe in all voices being heard. That is, we believe in voting.
Over the next several pages you will look at voter behavior in this country—at who votes and who does not, and at why those people who do vote, vote as they do.

What is the main idea of this chapter

a.	Understand how voting effects the political parties	c.	Understand how voting effects the outcome of elections
b.	To understand why people vote and why they do not	d.	To learn how to become a better citizen by voting

What are some of the things that effect whether or not people vote (pick all that apply)

a.	how they view the world	c.	whether or not they believe they can make a difference
b.	their place in society	d.	whether they are male or female

Nonvoters
The word idiot came to our language from the Greek. In ancient Athens, idiots (idiotes) were those citizens who did not vote or otherwise take part in public life.
Tens of millions of Americans vote in presidential and congressional elections; in State elections; and in city, county, and other public elections. Still, there are many millions of other Americans who, for one reason or another, do not vote. There are some quite legitimate reasons for not voting, as you will see. But this troubling fact remains: Most of the millions of Americans who could—but do not—go to the polls cannot claim any of those justifications. Indeed, they would have been called idiots in the Greece of 2000 years ago.
The Size of the Problem
In 2004 some 114 million votes were cast in the elections held across the country to fill the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. That means that only 53 percent of the electorate voted in those congressional elections. (Notice the even lower rates of turnout in the off-year elections—that is, in the congressional elections held in the even-numbered years between presidential elections.)
Several facets of the nonvoter problem are not very widely known. Take, for example, this striking fact: There are millions of nonvoters among those who vote. Nearly eight million persons who voted in the last presidential election could also have voted for a congressional candidate, but they did not choose to do so.
“Nonvoting voters” are not limited to federal elections. In fact, they are much more common in State and local elections. As a general rule, the farther down the ballot an office is, the fewer the number of votes that will be cast for it. This phenomenon is sometimes called “ballot fatigue.” The expression suggests that many voters exhaust their patience and/or their knowledge as they work their way down the ballot.
Some quick examples illustrate the phenomenon of ballot fatigue: In every State, more votes are regularly cast in the presidential election than in the gubernatorial election. More votes are generally cast for the governorship than for other Statewide offices, such as lieutenant governor or secretary of state. More voters in a county usually vote in the races for Statewide offices than vote in the contests for such county offices as sheriff, county clerk, or district attorney, and so on.

In Ancient Greece all citizens were expected to participate in the government by holding office and voting. What word did they use to describe citizens who did not participate?

a.	republicans	c.	democrats
b.	independents	d.	idiots

Voters tend to vote most often in _____ elections and least often in _____ elections.

a.	Congressional - Presidential	c.	Presidential - Congressional
b.	Presidential - Local	d.	Local - Presidential

Actual Nonvoters
There are millions of actual nonvoters in the United States. Thus, in 2004 more than 80 million Americans who could have voted in the presidential election did not.
There are any number of reasons for that behavior. As a leading example: Many who could go to the polls do not because they are convinced that it makes little real difference who wins a particular election.
That fairly large group includes two very different groups of nonvoters. On the one hand, it includes many who generally approve of the way the public’s business is being managed—that is, many who believe that no matter who wins an election, things will continue to go well for themselves and for the country.
On the other hand, that group also includes many people who feel alienated—many who deliberately refuse to vote because they don’t trust political institutions and processes. They either fear or scorn “the system.” To them, elections are meaningless, choiceless exercises.
Another large group of nonvoters is composed of people who have no sense of political efficacy. They lack any feeling of influence or effectiveness in politics. They do not believe that they or their votes can have any real impact on what government does.

What are some of the reasons people do not vote? (check all that apply)

a.	some people think their vote does not count even if they do vote	c.	some people think all of the candidates are alike and nothing will change by an election
b.	some people do not vote because of their religion	d.	some people don’t want to hurt a candidates feelings by not voting for him.

Other Factors Affecting Turnout
Other factors also affect whether voters show up at the polls. Cumbersome election procedures—for example, inconvenient registration requirements, long ballots, and long lines at polling places—discourage voters from turning out on election day. Bad weather also tends to discourage turnout.
Another possible, though hotly debated, factor is the so-called “time-zone fallout” problem. This refers to the fact that, in presidential elections, polls in States in the Eastern and Central time zones close before polls in States in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Based on early returns from the East and Midwest, the news media often project the outcome of the presidential contest before all the voters in the West have gone to the polls. Some people fear that such reports have discouraged western voters from casting their ballots.
Of all the reasons that may be cited, however, the chief cause for nonvoting is, purely and simply, a lack of interest. Those who lack sufficient interest, who are indifferent and apathetic, and who just cannot be bothered are usually woefully uninformed. Most often, they do not know even the simplest facts about the candidates and issues involved in an election.

Polls close in the East before the polls close in the West. How does that cause a “Time-Zone Fallout?”

a.	People in the West find out who is winning and don’t bother voting	c.	Usually the states in the West have weaker political parties than the states in the East
b.	People in the East find out who is winning and don’t bother voting	d.	Advertising in the West is more expensive that advertising in the East

What is the primary reason people do not vote?

a.	They can’t make up their minds	c.	It is hard to get to the polls
b.	They are just not interested in politics	d.	They forget to vote

Factors That Influence Voters
Observers still have much to learn about voter behavior, but many sociological and psychological factors clearly influence the way people vote. Sociology is the study of groups and how people behave within groups. The sociological factors affecting voter behavior are really the many pieces of a voter’s social and economic life. Those pieces are of two broad kinds: (1) a voter’s personal characteristics—age, race, income, occupation, education, religion, and so on; and (2) a voter’s group affiliations—family, co-workers, friends, and the like.
Psychology is the study of the mind and of individual behavior. The psychological factors that influence voter behavior are a voter’s perceptions of politics, that is, how the voter sees the parties, the candidates, and the issues in an election.
The differences between these two kinds of influences are not so great as they might seem. In fact, they are closely related and constantly interact with one another. How voters look at parties, candidates, or issues is often shaped by their own social and economic backgrounds.

Which statement below is true?

a.	Psychology is the study of groups while Sociology is the study of individuals	c.	Psychology and Sociology study the same things
b.	Psychology is the study of individuals while Sociology is the study of groups	d.	Psychology is the study of human behavior while Sociology is the study of the government

Which Sociological factors below effect voting behavior

a.	perception of the issues	c.	perception of the political parties
b.	perception of the candidates	d.	age, race, income, occupation and education

a.	off-year election	e.	party identification
b.	Political efficacy	f.	straight-ticket voting
c.	political socialization	g.	split-ticket voting
d.	gender gap	h.	independent

10.

where you get your political ideas from

11.

the political party to which people belong and support

12.

when voting you pick candidates from different parties

13.

elections for Congress when the President is not running

14.

when voting you pick all of the candidates from one party

15.

people who refuse to align themselves to any political party

16.

the amount of influence one can have on politics

17.

the difference between how men and women vote