Political participation

Beliefs about politics

• People hold widely differing views about politics–Political efficacy• Trust in institutions• Belief in your own ability to affect policy

• Role and duties of citizenship

Data on political beliefs

• General Social Survey, 1972-2006• National Opinion Research Center

Agree or disagree: The average person has a great deal of influence on government decisions

Gallup evaluation• Implications• The public is clearly frustrated with the government's performance;

thus, the presidential candidates' competition to be viewed as the "candidate of change" makes sense. It is unclear how much a change in leadership by itself will necessarily improve public trust. . . . .

• But ratings of government institutions are to a large degree influenced by assessments of conditions for the United States both domestically (especially in terms of the economy) and internationally. Historically, these assessments have been slow to recover when at similarly low levels.– Source: Jeffrey M. Jones, “Trust in Government Remains Low,” The Gallup

Report, September 18, 2008. Available at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/110458/Trust-Government-Remains-Low.aspx

Citizenship in democracy

• Unlike other forms of government, democracy—if it is to really be democracy—requires active participation from among the citizenry– Cannot simply vote every so often and then forget

about it till the next election• There may never be another election

The state of political participation

• The most significant form of political participation for the largest group of Americans is voting– Americans don’t vote at a very high level

compared to the democracies of the world• http://www.idea.int/index.cfm

Registration and voting by age(2006)

• http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#USP00p1

However:

• Several reasons for low turnout exist– There is no holiday for elections– Voting is not required– Actual impact on the outcome is quite limited• “You’re more likely to be hit by a bus”

– Distrust of government

Other forms of participation

• Support for candidates– Campaigning– Financial support

• Discussion of candidates and issues• Active petitioning of officials– Lobbying

American political behavior

• Data are from the General Social Survey, a large-scale omnibus survey by the University of Michigan, from the years 1972-2006. Many questions were only run one time, generating about 1,000 responses. Some were run multiple times, at about 1,000 responses per year.

Political participation

• Overall participation is rather low• However, participation varies a great deal

based on:– Age– Race– Education– Socioeconomic class

• Interestingly, gender is not a very good predictor

What actions have been taken to increase participation?

• Education• Registration drives• GOTV• Attempts to generate greater participation in

groups– Labor/management groups– Religious groups– Young– Elderly

Benefits of participation

• Some indication of increased personal happiness, feelings of efficacy

• System legitimation– Willingness of populace to sacrifice for

government they have a stake in