Political Participation

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Political Participation

• Who Votes?
• And
• Who Do They Vote For?

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Where Does Information Come From?

• Political scientists do not have actual data on
  either voter turnout or vote choice
• Australian Ballot
• Most of what we know about turnout and vote
  choice come from either surveys or exit polls

3
Surveys

• One question many election surveys ask is whether
  the respondent intends to vote (if before the
  election) or whether the respondent actually
  voted (if after the election)
• Misreport problem
• Social desirability

4
Exit Polls

• Polls conducted at voting locations to collect
  better information about voters
• Pollster randomly asks voters to fill out brief
  questionnaires
• These questionnaires ask questions about vote
  choice as well as many questions about
  demographics

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Fundamental Paradox of Participation

• Higher education leads to higher participation
• Americans are more educated today than they were
  in the past
• Higher registration leads to higher participation
• More Americans are registered to vote
• Why has turnout declined?

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Impact of Voter Turnout

• Elderly voters turn out at the highest rate
• Social Security
• Medicare
• Young voters turn out at the lowest rate
• Young issues are neglected at the expense of
  others
• 20 Million Loud

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Demographic Factors and Vote Choice

• 2000 Election Exit Polls
• http//www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/epolls/US/P000.ht
  ml

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Increasing Voter Turnout

• Should we increase voter turnout?
• How could we increase voter turnout?