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Voting and Elections

Voting and Elections. 28 October, 2010. Voter Turnout. Voter turnout is highest for presidential elections; in “midterm elections” only a third of the electorate vote U.S. turnout in comparative perspective How (and why) does voter turnout change over time? The role of age and education

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Voting and Elections

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  1. Voting and Elections 28 October, 2010

  2. Voter Turnout • Voter turnout is highest for presidential elections; in “midterm elections” only a third of the electorate vote • U.S. turnout in comparative perspective • How (and why) does voter turnout change over time? • The role of age and education • Does low voter turnout matter?

  3. Turnout in Comparative Perspective

  4. Trends in Voter Turnout Source: Michael McDonald (2010) VAP=Voting age population (includes everyone over 18, non citizens, felons, etc; VEP=Voting eligible population

  5. Trends in Voter Turnout VAP=Voting age population (includes everyone over 18, non citizens, felons, etc; VEP=Voting eligible population

  6. Voting is the most common form of political participation • Many people also talk about politics and try to persuade others to vote • Very few participate in any other specific way.

  7. Political Participation in Comparative Perspective Source: Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES), Module 2, 2004

  8. Why is voter turnout so low? • Voter attitudes • Lack of convenience • Difficulty of registration • Electoral system

  9. 0 Options for Electing the President • Congress chooses the president • State legislatures choose the president • President elected by popular vote • Electoral College

  10. 0 How it works • Each state was allocated a number of Electors equal to the number of U.S. Senators (always 2) plus the number of U.S. Representatives (which changes) • The manner of choosing the electors was left to the individual state legislators. By 1836 all states (except for South Carolina) choose electors by popular vote (plurality rules). • The candidate with a majority of electoral votes is elected president • In the event that no candidate wins a majority, the U.S. House of Representatives would choose from the top five contenders. Each state could cast only one vote. An absolute majority is required

  11. Unequal Representation Source: Robert A. Dahl, How Democratic is the American Constitution?

  12. The 2008 Presidential Election (270 needed to win)

  13. 0 The 2000 Presidential Election Bush 271; Gore 266 (270 needed to win)

  14. 0 The Florida Disaster • The “problem” with competitive elections • The Florida recount (link to Univ. of Chicago study) • The punch card voting system • Design of the palm beach ballot

  15. 0 The Butterfly Ballot

  16. 0 Evidence of problems in Palm Beach

  17. The 2008 Congressional Elections • The vast majority of congressional elections are not very competitive (most incumbents are re-elected; 94% in 2008) • Results for House of Representatives • Senate elections are more competitive but reelection rates are still very high (ie. in 2008, 83% reelection rate) • Results for Senate

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