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Understanding Voting Patterns and Political Socialization in the U.S.

This course provides an in-depth exploration of voting behavior and political socialization in the United States. Students will learn to identify the impact of formal and informal institutions on policy, interpret the U.S. Constitution in current contexts, and analytically assess recent elections without partisan bias. Key factors influencing voter turnout, including age, education, and income, are analyzed, along with the effects of political socialization through family, education, and media. Engage with the patterns of electoral participation and develop a nuanced understanding of American political dynamics.

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Understanding Voting Patterns and Political Socialization in the U.S.

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  1. Voting II 3/29/2012

  2. Clearly Communicated Learning Objectives in Written Form • Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: • identify and explain the role of formal and informal institutions and their effect on policy. • to understand and interpret the United States Constitution and apply it to present policy dilemmas. • to assess the 2010 and 2012 elections without resorting to partisan bickering.

  3. Office Hours and Readings • Chapter 4 (pp. 110-129) • Chapter 5 • Office Hours • Today 11-2 • Monday 10-2

  4. Three Big Things Who Votes

  5. Factor 1: Age

  6. Age and Voting • Older People vote more • Why • Curvilinear relationship!

  7. Factor 2: Education

  8. Education and Voting • This is a linear relationship • Why do better educated people vote more?

  9. Other Effects of Education

  10. Education and Age in 2008

  11. Factor 3: Income

  12. Income and Voting • Wealthy people vote at higher Rates • Related to education • Lower Information Costs

  13. Other Factors • Partisanship • Previous Voting History

  14. Why Young People do not vote

  15. Registration

  16. Why Young People Don’t Vote • Are Unfamiliar with the system- • Are one step above Gypsies • Have less formal and political education

  17. Low Social Capital • Writings of Robert Putnam • Are not connected to the community • As a Result, have low interest in politics

  18. High and low stimulus elections: The Saw-tooth Pattern Turnout in Recent Elections

  19. Presidential elections • Why Higher • saw-tooth pattern

  20. Voter Turnout in 2008 • 130 Million voted, 61% which was the highest rate since 1968 • Where was turnout up? • Best States • Worst States

  21. People expected more Voters in 2008 • Only slightly higher than 2004 • 18-29 year olds did not increase greatly as a % • Why No increase?

  22. Turnout in 2010 • Very Similar to 2006 • A Smaller Electorate than 2008 • 42% overall

  23. Midyear Tends to be boring

  24. Low Motivation from The Left • Every Democratic Group claimed responsibility for President Obama’s Victory • Supporters wanted immediate policy change on their issue

  25. Who Voted? • GOP was more energized • More conservative • Older • Whiter

  26. Groups most likely to vote Democratic stayed at home, and enabled the GOP to win at all levels

  27. Political Opinion

  28. What is Political Opinion • those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed -- V.O. Key • Why do politicians Follow it?

  29. How We Learn about Politics Political socialization

  30. Political Socialization • The process of learning about political issues and forming opinions • How we learn about politics • Same as religion, culture and language.

  31. We Learn the Apollo American Creed • Freedom • Equality • Support for the System

  32. We Are Proud to Be Americans

  33. The Family • We spend tons of time with them • The more time, the more influence

  34. Why Family is Important • Socio-economic status • Primacy Principle • Structuring Principle • It Ebbs as we get older

  35. What We Take out of it: Party ID • We often get our parents partisanship • Values

  36. What about Schools • Teach the status quo • Correlate with our parents • Ritualizes Nationalism

  37. The First Things We Learn • Little kids confuse political and religious authority • The Flag is Good

  38. Early Childhood • The President • Police • Neither can do wrong

  39. Later On • We learn more concepts • Government as civics lesson • We get more cynical

  40. Off To College • The Percentage of people going to college continues to rise • College often correlates with parents SES

  41. The College Effect

  42. The role of your professors

  43. The Role of Peers • Often Reinforce our Parents views • We do not tend to discuss politics • Our friends often share our SES and values

  44. Work Peers • We work with people like us • They share our SES • Our views are unlikely to change

  45. The Mass Media and Political Socialization • We Receive a lot of information • Not all of it sticks • Those who could learn the most, watch the least

  46. We Are Pretty Clueless

  47. So What often shapes our views • Projection • Adoption • Partisanship

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