Why Don't Americans Vote?

Causes and Consequences

Bridgett A. King, Kathleen Hale, Bridgett A. King, Kathleen Hale

• Publisher: ABC-CLIO
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781440841156
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216165170
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Campaigns & Elections
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This timely book provides a thought-provoking discussion of issues that influence voter registration and turnout in contemporary America.

Elections not only determine who will fill an office; they have a lot to say about how the democratic process works—or doesn't work—in 21st-century America. This fascinating book sheds light on that question by focusing on factors that currently shape elections and political participation in the United States. It covers issues that are consistently in the media, such as gerrymandering; voter ID; and rules pertaining to when, where, and how Americans register and vote. But it also goes beyond the obvious to consider issues that are often overlooked—civic education and engagement, citizen apathy, and political alienation, for example.

The volume begins with an introduction to elections that includes a discussion of the history of voting in the United States. Each subsequent chapter covers a different topic relative to registration and voting. It addresses matters of education as well as socialization, mobilization, and the legal and political structures that shape U.S. political participation. Ideal for readers who may be considering such concerns for the first time, the work will foster an understanding of why political participation is important and of the causes and consequences of non-voting.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction: Why Don’t Americans Vote? The History of the Franchise in the United States
• 1. Declining Trust and Efficacy and Its Role in Political Participation
• 2. Qualifying to Vote: Voter Registration Requirements
• 3. Digitizing Democracy: Online Voter Registration
• 4. Political Citizenship: Whether and Why College Students Vote
• 5. Nonprofit Voter Registration and the Limitations on Nonprofit Advocacy
• 6. Why Bother? Apathy in the American Electorate
• 7. It’s Not Convenient: Early and Weekend Voting
• 8. It’s Not Convenient: Absentee Voting and the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot
• 9. It’s Not Convenient: Should Other States Follow the Northwest and Vote by Mail?
• 10. Logistical Barriers to Voting
• 11. Voter Identification Requirements and Participation: A Cause for Alarm?
• 12. Barred from the Booth: Felony Disenfranchisement
• 13. Politics of Representation: The Two-Party System
• 14. Geography of Representation: Gerrymandering, Representation, and Turnout
• 15. Dynamics of Direct Democracy and Voter Turnout
• 16. Midterm Election Blues
• 17. Political Polarization: The Shift from the Middle
• 18. It’s Over before It Began: Pre-Election Polling and the Early Release of Election Results
• 19. Tenor of Modern Political Campaigns: Alienation and Voter Turnout
• 20. Mobilization through Third Party Groups
• Appendix A.1: Voter Turnout in Presidential and Midterm Elections, 1789–2014
• Appendix A.2: Constitutional Amendments
• Appendix A.3: Probit Regression Model Predicting Voter Apathy Abstention
• Appendix A.4: Demographics California VAAC Survey Respondents, 2012 and 2014 (in percentages)
• Appendix A.5: California VAAC Respondent Voting Preferences, 2012 and 2014: Habits and Preferences (in percentages)
• Appendix A.6: Alienation Survey Questions
• Appendix A.7: Binary Logistic Analysis of Voter Turnout, 2008 and 2012
• Appendix A.8: Models of Voter Registration and Turnout
• About the Editors and Contributors
• Index