American Polity by Serow

Readings for Apr 11

Serow #71 by Frances Piven and Richard Cloward; Why Americans Still Don’t Vote (p507)

• Electoral reform project – Human SERVE (Service Empoyees Registration and Voter Education); 1983
• 1993 – National Voter Registration Act; required reg available in AFDC, Food Stamps, Medicaid, driver license, etc
• Also forced states to accept registration by mail
• Abolished historic barriers to voter registration
• Made possible by three things
• Influential national voting rights coalition gained strength
• Rapid spread of motor voter programs in states
• Neither party thought it would affect election outcomes
• Right to vote is a core symbol of democracy
• Only about one-half of US population votes in Pres elections, and less in off-years
• Since NVRA, voter turnout is still falling (38.8 to 36% from 1994 to 1998)
• Expense of voting and registration may be the biggest reason for low turnouts
• Argues that turnout would rise 9-15% if expenses were lowered
• Americans feel they have little effectiveness in voting and don’t like the choices
• Parties unlikely to try to expand voter turnout; may actually aim to demobilize certain sections

Serow #76 by Ansolabehere and Iyengar; Going Negative (p557)

• Used to be that most voted and were party loyal
• Now, with TV, people are split between loyalists and apathetics
• TV adverts now the mainstay of political campaigns
• Despite growth of indepedents, it is still a competition largely between Rep and Dem
• Congress has become more polarized and partisan
• Electorate reacts with frustration and anger
• Biggest cause of this is the proliferation of negative political advert on TV
• Partisans are reinforced by TV
• Nonpartisans who do not usually care about politics continue to ignore normal ads; negative ads reinforce their low opinion of politics, however
• Cause them to either stay home or choose not who they vote for but who they vote against
• Candidates don’t conspire to scare voters away from polls but “politics is a contact sport”
• Negative advert done out of competiveness
• Then the attacked responds in kind, and it cycles
• Reporters report on politics with the verve of sportswriters and a title fight
• Their job is to sell papers
• Negative advert and reports make people distrust politics and believe gov is failing
• Independent voters feel negative adverts most; they make up the largest group now (36%)
• They tend not to vote
• Feel gov does not represent their ideas or interests