Bias and its Implications

1
Bias and its Implications

• Mark Stephan
• Political Behavior
• PS 417

2
Last class and Todays Class

• Midterm
• Political Bias
• A discussion about what the bias means

3
Biases in the past

• Institutional Biases
• Jim Crow
• Outside the south
• Closing dates

4
Biases now

• Institutional biases?
• Registration closing dates, purges from the
  rolls (Florida problem?)
• Felons

5
For discussion Political Inequality

• Pages 236 and 237 R/H
• What meaning can we draw from citizen
  participation (or lack of) in our democracy?
• Should we care about the inequality in
  participation?

6
Overcoming Bias (partly)

• Motor Voter?
• Civil Rights Movement
• Other movements
• Court Decisions
• Mobilizers

7
News Flash!!

• Lebanon
• Afghanistan
• Rossi campaigns revote
• More?

8
Other issues

• U.S. and Europe compared..
• U.S. now and the U.S. in the 19th century

9
If time

• Should government play a more systematic role in
  motivating people to participate? Or ensuring
  that motivated people have the capacity to
  participate?