The Turnout Myth

Author : Daron R. Shaw,John R. Petrocik
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 217 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2020
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780190089450

Get Book

The Turnout Myth by Daron R. Shaw,John R. Petrocik Pdf

When voter turnout is high, Democrats have an advantage - or so the truism goes. But, it is true? In The Turnout Myth, Daron Shaw and John Petrocik refute the widely held convention that high voter participation benefits Democrats while low involvement helps Republicans. The authors examineover 50 years of presidential, gubernatorial, Senatorial, and House election data to show that there is no consistent partisan effect associated with voter turnout in national elections. Instead, less-engaged citizens' responses to short-term forces - candidate appeal, issues, scandals, and the like- determine election turnout. Moreover, Republican and Democratic candidates are equally affected by short-term forces. The consistency of these effects suggests that partisan conflict over eligibility, registration, and voting rules and regulations is less important for election outcomes than bothsides seem to believe. Featuring powerful evidence and analytical acumen, this book provides a new foundation for thinking about U.S. elections.

Author : Lorraine C. Minnite
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2011-03-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780801457821

Get Book

The Myth of Voter Fraud by Lorraine C. Minnite Pdf

Allegations that widespread voter fraud is threatening to the integrity of American elections and American democracy itself have intensified since the disputed 2000 presidential election. The claim that elections are being stolen by illegal immigrants and unscrupulous voter registration activists and vote buyers has been used to persuade the public that voter malfeasance is of greater concern than structural inequities in the ways votes are gathered and tallied, justifying ever tighter restrictions on access to the polls. Yet, that claim is a myth. In The Myth of Voter Fraud, Lorraine C. Minnite presents the results of her meticulous search for evidence of voter fraud. She concludes that while voting irregularities produced by the fragmented and complex nature of the electoral process in the United States are common, incidents of deliberate voter fraud are actually quite rare. Based on painstaking research aggregating and sifting through data from a variety of sources, including public records requests to all fifty state governments and the U.S. Justice Department, Minnite contends that voter fraud is in reality a politically constructed myth intended to further complicate the voting process and reduce voter turnout. She refutes several high-profile charges of alleged voter fraud, such as the assertion that eight of the 9/11 hijackers were registered to vote, and makes the question of voter fraud more precise by distinguishing fraud from the manifold ways in which electoral democracy can be distorted. Effectively disentangling misunderstandings and deliberate distortions from reality, The Myth of Voter Fraud provides rigorous empirical evidence for those fighting to make the electoral process more efficient, more equitable, and more democratic.

Author : Bruce E. Keith
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 1992-06-17
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780520077201

Get Book

The Myth of the Independent Voter by Bruce E. Keith Pdf

Debunking conventional wisdom about voting patterns and allaying recent concerns about electoral stability and possible third party movements, the authors uncover faulty practices that have resulted in a skewed sense of the American voting population.

Author : Richard L. Hasen
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2024-02-20
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780691257723

Get Book

A Real Right to Vote by Richard L. Hasen Pdf

Why it's time to enshrine the right to vote in the Constitution Throughout history, too many Americans have been disenfranchised or faced needless barriers to voting. Part of the blame falls on the Constitution, which does not contain an affirmative right to vote. The Supreme Court has made matters worse by failing to protect voting rights and limiting Congress’s ability to do so. The time has come for voters to take action and push for an amendment to the Constitution that would guarantee this right for all. Drawing on troubling stories of state attempts to disenfranchise military voters, women, African Americans, students, former felons, Native Americans, and others, Richard Hasen argues that American democracy can and should do better in assuring that all eligible voters can cast a meaningful vote that will be fairly counted. He shows how a constitutional right to vote can deescalate voting wars between political parties that lead to endless rounds of litigation and undermine voter confidence in elections, and can safeguard democracy against dangerous attempts at election subversion like the one we witnessed in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. The path to a constitutional amendment is undoubtedly hard, especially in these polarized times. A Real Right to Vote explains what’s in it for conservatives who have resisted voting reform and reveals how the pursuit of an amendment can yield tangible dividends for democracy long before ratification.

Author : Sean D. Foreman,Marcia L. Godwin,Walter Clark Wilson
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 342 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2021-11-20
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9783030825218

Get Book

The Roads to Congress 2020 by Sean D. Foreman,Marcia L. Godwin,Walter Clark Wilson Pdf

This book analyzes changes to campaigning and voting in the United States in 2020. The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 upended traditional campaign strategies, posed unprecedented challenges to candidates, and possessed the potential to fundamentally alter how campaigns think about running for office. At the same time, the Trump administration’s divisive handling of twin crises stemming from the pandemic and rising racial tensions loomed over congressional races as the most disruptive election cycle in living memory. The ramifications of the 2020 congressional elections for the direction of public policy in America—and perhaps for American democracy itself—cannot be overstated. The Roads to Congress 2020 examines key House and Senate campaigns, candidates, and controversies in the 2020 election to reveal what accounts for the outcomes and point the way to America’s political future.

Author : Martin P. Wattenberg
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2015-10-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781317347026

Get Book

Is Voting for Young People? by Martin P. Wattenberg Pdf

This book focuses on the root causes of the generation gap in voter turnout—changes in media consumption habits over time. It lays out an argument as to why young people have been tuning out politics in recent years, both in the United States and in other established democracies.

Author : Jan E. Leighley,Jonathan Nagler
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2013-11-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781400848621

Get Book

Who Votes Now? by Jan E. Leighley,Jonathan Nagler Pdf

Who Votes Now? compares the demographic characteristics and political views of voters and nonvoters in American presidential elections since 1972 and examines how electoral reforms and the choices offered by candidates influence voter turnout. Drawing on a wealth of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and the American National Election Studies, Jan Leighley and Jonathan Nagler demonstrate that the rich have consistently voted more than the poor for the past four decades, and that voters are substantially more conservative in their economic views than nonvoters. They find that women are now more likely to vote than men, that the gap in voting rates between blacks and whites has largely disappeared, and that older Americans continue to vote more than younger Americans. Leighley and Nagler also show how electoral reforms such as Election Day voter registration and absentee voting have boosted voter turnout, and how turnout would also rise if parties offered more distinct choices. Providing the most systematic analysis available of modern voter turnout, Who Votes Now? reveals that persistent class bias in turnout has enduring political consequences, and that it really does matter who votes and who doesn't.

Author : Donald P. Green,Alan S. Gerber
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
Page : 239 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2008-09-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780815732662

Get Book

Get Out the Vote by Donald P. Green,Alan S. Gerber Pdf

The first edition of Get Out the Vote! broke ground by introducing a new scientific approach to the challenge of voter mobilization and profoundly influenced how campaigns operate. In this expanded and updated edition, the authors incorporate data from more than one hundred new studies, which shed new light on the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of various campaign tactics, including door-to-door canvassing, e-mail, direct mail, and telephone calls. Two new chapters focus on the effectiveness of mass media campaigns and events such as candidate forums and Election Day festivals. Available in time for the core of the 2008 presidential campaign, this practical guide on voter mobilization is sure to be an important resource for consultants, candidates, and grassroots organizations. Praise for the first edition: "Donald P. Green and Alan S. Gerber have studied turnout for years. Their findings, based on dozens of controlled experiments done as part of actual campaigns, are summarized in a slim and readable new book called Get Out the Vote!, which is bound to become a bible for politicians and activists of all stripes." —Alan B. Kreuger, in the New York Times "Get Out the Vote! shatters conventional wisdom about GOTV." —Hal Malchow in Campaigns & Elections "Green and Gerber's recent book represents important innovations in the study of turnout."—Political Science Review "Green and Gerber have provided a valuable resource for grassroots campaigns across the spectrum."—National Journal

Author : Judith Brett
Publisher : Text Publishing
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2019-03-05
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781925626810

Get Book

From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage by Judith Brett Pdf

It’s compulsory to vote in Australia. We are one of a handful of countries in the world that enforce this rule at election time, and the only English-speaking country that makes its citizens vote. Not only that, we embrace it. We celebrate compulsory voting with barbeques and cake stalls at polling stations, and election parties that spill over into Sunday morning. But how did this come to be: when and why was voting in Australia made compulsory? How has this affected our politics? And how else is the way we vote different from other democracies? Lively and inspiring, From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage is a landmark account of the character of Australian democracy by the celebrated historian Judith Brett, the prize-winning biographer of Alfred Deakin.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 480 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 1992
Category : Economics
ISBN : STANFORD:36105016137445

Get Book

The Brookings Review by Anonim Pdf

Author : Bruce Miroff,Raymond Seidelman,Todd Swanstrom
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 388 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 1997
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0395697123

Get Book

Debating Democracy by Bruce Miroff,Raymond Seidelman,Todd Swanstrom Pdf

Author : Chris W. Bonneau,Melinda Gann Hall
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2009-06-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781135852689

Get Book

In Defense of Judicial Elections by Chris W. Bonneau,Melinda Gann Hall Pdf

One of the most contentious issues in politics today is the propriety of electing judges. Ought judges be independent of democratic processes in obtaining and retaining their seats, or should they be subject to the approval of the electorate and the processes that accompany popular control? While this debate is interesting and often quite heated, it usually occurs without reference to empirical facts--or at least accurate ones. Also, empirical scholars to date have refused to take a position on the normative issues surrounding the practice. Bonneau and Hall offer a fresh new approach. Using almost two decades of data on state supreme court elections, Bonneau and Hall argue that opponents of judicial elections have made—and continue to make—erroneous empirical claims. They show that judicial elections are efficacious mechanisms that enhance the quality of democracy and create an inextricable link between citizens and the judiciary. In so doing, they pioneer the use of empirical data to shed light on these normative questions and offer a coherent defense of judicial elections. This provocative book is essential reading for anyone interested in the politics of judicial selection, law and politics, or the electoral process. Part of the Controversies in Electoral Democracy and Representation series edited by Matthew J. Streb.

Author : Meredith Rolfe
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 249 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2012-02-13
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781107015418

Get Book

Voter Turnout by Meredith Rolfe Pdf

This book combines positive political theory, social network research and computational modeling, explaining why some people are more likely to vote than others.

Author : John G. Matsusaka
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2022-04-26
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780691199740

Get Book

Let the People Rule by John G. Matsusaka Pdf

How referendums can diffuse populist tensions by putting power back into the hands of the people Propelled by the belief that government has slipped out of the hands of ordinary citizens, a surging wave of populism is destabilizing democracies around the world. As John Matsusaka reveals in Let the People Rule, this belief is based in fact. Over the past century, while democratic governments have become more efficient, they have also become more disconnected from the people they purport to represent. The solution Matsusaka advances is familiar but surprisingly underused: direct democracy, in the form of referendums. While this might seem like a dangerous idea post-Brexit, there is a great deal of evidence that, with careful design and thoughtful implementation, referendums can help bridge the growing gulf between the government and the people. Drawing on examples from around the world, Matsusaka shows how direct democracy can bring policies back in line with the will of the people (and provide other benefits, like curbing corruption). Taking lessons from failed processes like Brexit, he also describes what issues are best suited to referendums and how they should be designed, and he tackles questions that have long vexed direct democracy: can voters be trusted to choose reasonable policies, and can minority rights survive majority decisions? The result is one of the most comprehensive examinations of direct democracy to date—coupled with concrete, nonpartisan proposals for how countries can make the most of the powerful tools that referendums offer. With a crisis of representation hobbling democracies across the globe, Let the People Rule offers important new ideas about the crucial role the referendum can play in the future of government.

Author : David S. Heidler,Jeanne T. Heidler
Publisher : Basic Books
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2018-10-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9780465097579

Get Book

The Rise of Andrew Jackson by David S. Heidler,Jeanne T. Heidler Pdf

The story of Andrew Jackson's improbable ascent to the White House, centered on the handlers and propagandists who made it possible Andrew Jackson was volatile and prone to violence, and well into his forties his sole claim on the public's affections derived from his victory in a thirty-minute battle at New Orleans in early 1815. Yet those in his immediate circle believed he was a great man who should be president of the United States. Jackson's election in 1828 is usually viewed as a result of the expansion of democracy. Historians David and Jeanne Heidler argue that he actually owed his victory to his closest supporters, who wrote hagiographies of him, founded newspapers to savage his enemies, and built a political network that was always on message. In transforming a difficult man into a paragon of republican virtue, the Jacksonites exploded the old order and created a mode of electioneering that has been mimicked ever since. !--[endif]--