Unit 4: Political Beliefs and Behavior Part Two

1. Unit 4: Political Beliefs and BehaviorPart Two

2. Where do your political attitudes come from? Family • children absorb political attitudes of family, becomes more independent with time • recently: decline in passing on party identification • Younger voters less partisan (more likely to be independent) Flaming Liberal

3. Religion • Catholics: tend to be liberal on economic issues • Protestant: more conservative • Jewish: more liberal on economy/social issues • Why differences among religious tradition? 2 theories: • social status of each religious group (ex., Irish Catholics—poor immigrants, allied with Democrats) • differences reflect the content of the religious tradition (Protestants place more emphasis on personal rectitude) We vote Kennedy…err, Democrat! Cead mille failte!

4. Gender • men more Republican since mid-1960’s; women identify with Democrats about the same rate • gender gap not unique to U.S. “Nixon in 1960. Don’t worry, he’s not a total scumbag. “ New paradigm: Republican women? Mama Grizzlies?

5. Education • college education has liberalizing effect (exposure to liberal “elites?”) • increasing college conservatism? Maybe (oppose legalized abortion, marijuana), maybe not (support school busing)

6. Cleavages in Public Opinion • Class Divisions: declining sharply • Why? Greater exposure to liberalizing effects of education • “Liberal/conservative” label now is often non-economic You

7. Race • Black Americans overwhelmingly Democrat (96% in 2008 election), changing generationally • Latino/Asian voters not usually specifically partisan

9. Political Ideology • The Very Short History of Political Labels • Early 1800’s: Liberal meant personal/economic liberty; conservative meant restoring power of church/state/aristocracy • FDR and New Deal changed this; “liberalism” now means support for an activist govt. • Conservative=reaction to activism (Barry Goldwater, early 60’s) • Today? Labels are imprecise and changing

10. 3 useful categories for tracking Libs and Cons • Economic policy • Libs favor “jobs for all, subsidized medical care/education, increased taxation of the rich” • Cons: “opportunity for all, free market supreme” • Civil Rights • Libs: “federal action to desegregate schools, create opportunities for minorities, civil rights law” • Cons: “state rights” (getting more Lib in this area) • Public and political conduct • Libs: “tolerant of protest, legalization of marijuana, rights of accused, eliminate crime at its root causes” • Cons: “rights of victim/punish the criminal”

11. Variety is the Spice of Life Consistency: people tend to mix conservative/liberal views on these issues • pure liberals: lib on both economic/personal conduct issues • pure conservatives: cons. Both econ/personal conduct issues • Libertarians: conservative econ., liberal on personal conduct • Populists: liberal economically, cons on personal issues • Most Americans areideological conservatives but operational liberals

12. Political Participation Why don’t Americans vote? The Good News: • U.S. voting pretty close to European rates (turnout of registered voters) • it’s not voter apathy; it’s low registration rates • In non-voting participation, U.S. does very well • Conventional participation (Voting; donating your time, money to a campaign; running for office; writing a letter to a politician; etc.) • Unconventional participation (boycotts, marches, sit-ins, protests)

13. See? Voter Turnout, 1996-2001 Elections, Selected Countries: CH. 6: Political Participation

14. Or how about this…?

15. Voter Turnout

16. The rise of the American electorate (small history lesson here) • initially, states decided who voted and for which offices • Created wide variation in federal elections • Congress has since reduced state prerogatives with: • 1842 law: House members elected by district • suffrage to women • suffrage to blacks • suffrage to 18-21 year olds • direct popular election of Senators

17. Black voting Southern states restrict voting rights, post-Civil War • literacy test • poll tax • white primaries • grandfather clauses • intimidation 1965 Voting Rights Act • suspended literacy tests; appointed federal examiners; criminal penalties for interference with right to vote

18. Women’s voting several western states permit suffrage by 1915 19th Amendment ratified 1920 no dramatic changes in electoral outcomes/policy

19. Youth voting Voting Rights Act 1970 26th Amendment 1971--voting age lowered to 18 Do They?

20. Voting turnout: declining % of eligible adults who vote: why?

21. 3 theories: • IT’S A REAL DECLINE! • caused by lessening popular interest, decreasing party mobilization • IT’S AN APPARENT DECLINE! • caused partly by more honest ballot counts • parties once printed ballots; ballots cast in public; parties controlled the counting; rules easily gone around • IT’S DIFFICULT TO REGISTER! • longer residency requirements, educ. qualifications; discrimination; registrationmust be far in advance of elections

22. What causes participation? • Education, access to political information causes increase • church • men/women vote at same rate • race: black participation lower than white; but among those of similar socio-economic status, black participation is superior to whites’ Everybody’s doing it! Be like everyone! Do not resist!

23. Who Participates? Voting is the most common form of participation, but 8-10% misreport it Verba & Nie: 6 forms of participation, 6 kinds of U.S. citizens • inactives: rarely vote/contribute/discuss politics (low educ./income, young, many blacks; 22%) • voting specialists: not much educ/income, older • campaigners: vote/campaign, more educ., interested in politics, identify with party, strong positions • Nonpartisan community activists: local interest • parochial participants: don’t vote/participate but do contact leaders about specific problems • activists: participate in all forms; high educ./income, middle age; 11%

24. The meaning of all this: • Americans vote less, participate more • Not sure if either major party would be helped by higher turnout • Not sure if higher turnout would be necessarily good • Turnout rates are heavily skewed to higher status persons

25. National Voter Turnout in Federal Elections: 1960–2008